The most successful Texas Hold'em players are the ones who make fewer bet sizing mistakes. Now, remember that you won't see what your opponent is holding before you place any bets. You must use the info available to you – through betting behavior – and the way the hand plays out to help you make the right decisions. It usually occurs in Texas holdem when one player holds high suited connectors, such as ace king, and another has a pocket pair, such as pocket 10's. Community Cards: These are the cards dealt face up on the table which can be used by all players to make a hand with their two hole cards. Jan 13, 2021 More Texas Holdem Starting Hands. Example:6♠ 9♦, 2♣ 7♣, K♥ 10♦. Simply put, every other hand you can be dealt is going to lose you money. As a beginner or even intermediate player, hands that may look great - such as an off-suit Q-J or J-10 - are simply going to lose you money in the long run. Texas Holdem Heads-Up Preflop Odds. This table was created by enumerating through every possible board and opponent hole card combination for each of the 169 texas holdem preflop starting hands.
To many, heads up is the purest form of poker. Playing heads up forces players to utilize many different skills in order to be successful. Some of the many skills include the ability to read hands, bluff (in correct situations), adjust constantly to your opponents playing styles, and value bet thin.
Another important skill that heads up players must develop is hand selection. When first starting out, some players will play nearly every hand (even out of position). They seem to think that they need to over compensate for heads up play. Other players will not play nearly enough hands causing them to lose money due to the blinds and/or their opponent's steals.
But just like anything else in poker (some will say life too), balance is important. In regards to heads up poker hand selection, you must find a middle ground between playing too many hands and not playing enough. And to help with that, I have created a basic starting hand guide below.
HU Poker Starting Hands - On the Button (In Position)
The button in heads up poker is no different then the button in a 6-max or full ring game - you will have position throughout the entire hand.
Because of the positional advantage, the button is where you should have the widest hand range. Many players will start by opening 100% of their hands and slowly shave their range back to adjust to how often they're being played back at by their opponent.
At the bare minimum, I will open up every suited connector, 1 and 2-gapper, broadways and pairs. I will also open any ace, king and most of my queen and jack hands with a kicker of 5 and above (all queens and jacks if suited). Any suited ten-x hand is good enough for me to open as well. If you were to look at all of these hands in Poker Stove, my range would be in the neighborhood of 70% at minimum.
Keep in mind that your range should fluctuate somewhat depending mostly on your opponent, game flow and at times even your image. If your opponent is 3-betting you relentlessly, you should open less, folding out hands you can't defend to 3-bets with. A majority of the hands you open you should be able to defend or 4-bet. On the other hand, if your opponent folds a lot pre or plays fit or fold on the flop, you can widen your hand range, sometimes playing as much as 100% of hands dealt.
When facing a 3-bet, I will have a slightly smaller range. I will generally defend versus 3-bets with any pair, any broadway, any suited ace and about half of my suited kings and queens (like K9/Q8 suited and above). I also defend with some suited connectors and one gappers like J8s or T9s. It's really villain dependent, but this should give you an idea of where I start at least.
HU Poker Starting Hands - In the Big Blind (Out of Position)
When playing heads up poker, the player in the big blind will be the player who is out of position for the entire hand. This is a huge disadvantage and because of this, you should tighten up the range of hands that you defend with.
As a rule of thumb, I will defend any pair, any suited ace, A9 off-suit and up, almost all of my broadways and suited connectors/1-gappers like J8s and maybe T9s. Looking at Poker Stove, my hand range will be close to 35% or 40% out of position. About 10% of these hands (suited connectors, suited kings, some suited queens) I will 3-bet with preflop.
Again, it's important to realize that this is more or less a default hand range. You should be adjusting the hands you're defending with according to how tight/loose your opponent is. The tighter your opponent, the tighter the hand range you should be defending with. The looser your opponent, the wider you can defend.
HU Poker Starting Hands - Summary
It should be painfully obvious that your opening hand range in a heads up game is much wider than what it would be in a 6-max or full ring game. If your preflop hand range isn't this wide (or close), you're too tight and you should widen up as it is likely costing you money.
At the same time, I hope that you noticed that none of my preflop ranges outlined above are set in stone. Starting hand ranges in any poker game shouldn't be. You should be basing your preflop hand ranges based on your opponents, game flow and image. Your exact hand range will always be fluctuating.
So while a guide like the one I posted above will definitely help you in becoming a better heads up player, knowing how to adjust for the different in-game variables will help you in becoming not only a profitable heads up player, but a profitable poker player overall.
Texas Holdem Poker Hands Chart
Going head-to-head in Texas Hold'em is not the same as playing against multiple opponents
One of the most challenging forms of poker in the world is, without a doubt, heads-up No-Limit Texas Hold'em. Besides a little luck, it demands players to have a set of skills that are different from those seen when playing a table full of opponents. Typically, the best poker players in the world are experts in heads-up play. Knowing how to play heads-up become more important for those players who are looking into winning a tournament and there are several strategies that can be implemented.
SIMPLE Texas Hold'em Poker Odds Calculator For Feb 2021 ..
Typically speaking, the most aggressive player is most likely the one who wins more times. Keeping intense pressure on your opponent and putting them to test constantly is always a good strategy. This basically means that you will be open raising most of your buttons and turning into an aggressive player, taking action on a wider range of hands. For instance, a good rule of thumb would be to raise whenever you get a face card or Ace and with any pocket pair. With middle pairs and up, don't be afraid to go beyond with a three-bet if your opponent raises.
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There is another popular concept called ‘Any Ace' in which players are encouraged to raise any hand where they get any ace during heads-up play. The reason for this strategy is that, statistically, most hands will end up in a battle between two random cards. Holding an ace can give you a 52% chance to win against another random non-paired hand.
Another circumstance to consider is the position that you can use it to your advantage. When you have the small blind, it is a good idea to put pressure on the opponent. This opens the opportunity for you to collect more pots during pre-flop action and even control pots after the flop. This strategy is more widespread, so, while other players are in position, they might raise, too. It is never a good idea to let them push you; choosing your battles is important.
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