H0H2 Part 12 - Heads-Up

*Last edited by zook on Tue, 26 Dec 2006, 4:20pm; edited 1 time in total*

This section helped me a ton when I first read it. Heads-up play involves a lot of feel and reads, but if you screw up the basics (open fold a lot from the SB, undervalue one pair hands, don't have a grasp of hand rankings) you're starting off at a huge disadvantage.

1. What general conclusions about heads-up pre-flop hand selection can you draw from the hand rankings on pages 365 & 366?

2. Why does Harrington advocate calling with any two pre-flop from the SB/Button? Are there exceptions to this advice?

3. Why does Harrington recommend an aggressive pre-flop raising strategy from the BB?

4. Did anything surprise you in the transcribed heads-up session between Phil Ivey and John D'Agostino?

1. Some hands that do well in multi-way pots like QJ suited and JT suited are not in the top 10% heads up. Kickers are less of a concern heads up, for example A8 can be played like AK.

2. The math shows that even bad hands can be a profitable call from the SB heads-up. If your opponent never allows you to limp then calling with any two pre-flop from the SB no longer works.

3. You want to be aggressive in the big blind heads-up because you want to eliminate post-flop play where your opponent has position. Also, you don't want to let your opponent get in the habit of calling with any two from the SB(question 2).

4. Ivey's fold of K3 in hand 3 surprised me. D'Agostino folding in the SB in hands 5, 13 and 23 was surprising.

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H0H2 Part 12 - Heads-Up

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H0H2 Part 12 - Heads-Up