Playing Heads Up, Part 2:
Four Opponent Types

When I find myself heads up for the money, I generally find myself up against one of four types of players. Identifying which group your opponent fits into, and devising a strategy for besting them is crucial to success heads up. Here are the four types most common in these situations, and how to get the better of each.

The Aggressive Player

Your first question might be this: "Doesn't everybody play aggressively heads up? Wouldn't every opponent fall into this group?" Well, yes and no. It is true that nearly everybody will step up their aggression when they get heads up, but when I refer to aggressive heads up players, I mean players who are aggressive even when compared to other players playing heads up. These are truly aggressive players.

I'll give you an example. Your opponent flops third pair and bets out. You have top pair and raise. A passive player would likely fold here, and a middle-of-the-road player would call and hope that you are bluffing or that he catches something else. An aggressive player would come back over the top of you, knowing that you wouldn't raise if you had a monster, and will fold even top pair if he bets enough, either on this turn or the next one. That is heads-up aggression, and it can be very effective. But spotting it early will allow you to use some weapons of your own.

First, understand that your opponent wants to take down all of the small pots, and in order to stay in with him, you will need to risk a lot of chips. He is betting that you are not willing to do that, and that is how he plans to get the best of you. But you should be willing to risk a lot of chips - provided you have a hand.

Against these players, I like to see a lot of flops, so I call a lot of bets with marginal cards. Then, once the flop comes, I will happily get out quietly if I miss. If I hit, it depends on how well I hit. With two pair or better and nothing of concern on the board, I like to slow play. The slow play is an effective move against an aggressive player here since it will get you a lot of chips in one hand, and will stay with him in future hands. If he is smart, he will be thinking, "Well he looks weak here, but three hands ago he looked weak when he flopped a set."

When I flop top pair, I like to bet out or raise, hoping to inspire him to come over the top of me. With second or third pair, I may do the same thing, but when he does, the decision is tougher. You've got to mix it up with these aggressive players, so they cannot put you on a hand. But the key is to catch them pushing a bluff or a marginal hand when you have something that you are comfortable with. Let their own aggressiveness be their downfall.

The Passive Player

Most weaker heads up players will tend to be passive, and again, when I say passive, I mean passive relative to other heads up players. But just because a player is passive, it doesn't mean that he doesn't know what he is doing. A perfect example of this is Phil Hellmuth's performance at the Heads-Up Championship. Most of the time, he was the classic passive player, avoiding traps and calling with good hands instead of raising. At the end of the tournament, he was the last man standing, so don't you believe that a passive player is an easy win - even heads up.

The key to beating the passive player is to take down a lot of smaller pots with bets and raises early. Because of the progressive nature of no limit holdem (bets and raises need to be bigger on every street in order to be effective), you are actually risking fewer chips by bluffing early than by waiting until the river to make a move. Passive opponents don't want to risk a lot of chips on a marginal hand, so they will let you take down a lot of these pots early if you show some strength. Give them a chance to fold, and they usually will. Until they don't.

The favorite play of the passive player is the slow play. If they look weak, bet at them and give them a chance to fold. But if they appear too weak, but still call you, then you may be walking into a monster trap.

When you are called by a passive player, especially after the flop, beware. He almost surely has a hand. It may only be a draw, but he's got something. On the next round, you need to decide whether to keep pushing, or to back down and give up the pot. If a pot-sized bet or a raise from me is called on the flop, I will usually check on the turn, and fold if he comes back at me. I may bet the river if I believe he missed his draw, but I'm not going to lose a lot of chips unless I think I have him beat.

The New Player

Every once in awhile, you'll find yourself heads up with a player who doesn't have a lot of experience in heads up situations. These players are easier to spot in a live tournament than online, since you can see them handle themselves in a live setting (e.g., if they have to be told that the button is on the small blind, that's a sign). One way to spot newer players online is that they almost never raise pref lop.

Most new players are passive, so you will do best to try to take down small pots early. The added advantage that the new player gives you is that they are not nearly as creative as a seasoned heads up opponent. They tend to give their hands away preflop by raising with strong hands, merely checking marginal ones, and folding their rags. So, if they don't raise you preflop, you can assume that they don't have an Ace or a pair, or even a hand like K-Q. If they do raise, you can assume that you are safe on a flop of 5-6-3, or 2-2-4, unless they come out swinging with an overpair. Neither of these rules are hard and fast, but you can count on a lot less creativity from newer players than you will from seasoned pros.

The other thing about these players is that they don't push their big hands very hard. With top pair and top kicker, they might just check and call all the way down. This is different from slow-playing, since they don't have a monster with which to raise you on the river. But they never feel comfortable enough, even with a very good hand, to raise you back.

As an example, I was in the final four of a small tournament two years ago with a young woman who was clearly new to tournaments. She was a tight, solid player, but not terribly creative. I don't think she was capable of bluffing if her life depending upon it. I started with A-Q and raised. She called my raise from late position, and I thought to myself, "I'm betting the flop no matter what."

As it happens, the flop came A-K-6, with two hearts. Because of the hearts, I didn't want to slow play, so I bet the size of the pot. She called, but I could tell that she wasn't happy about it. The turn was a blank, and I bet the size of the pot again. She thought about it for a moment and called for about half of her remaining chips. The river was a blank too, and I put her all-in. She took a deep breath, called, and turned over A-K. I thought my hand was best the entire way because she didn't raise me back, and didn't even feel comfortable calling. When she saw my hand, she chirped, "Don't scare me like that!" and seemed genuinely surprised that she won. I may have been bested by the finest actress since Meryl Streep, but I think rather that she was merely a new player who didn't know how strong she was.

The All-In Specialist

Finally, there is a new type of player that we see more and more of in tournaments and heads up competitions - the all-in specialist. This player wins chips by going all in again and again, betting that you don't have enough to call them with. They will push with the best hand, with the worst hand, and with a monster, but you won't know which hand they are playing.

Pre-flop, when these players push all-in, they generally do so with both traditional raising hands and with decent hands such as J-10 and K-9. So you don't need aces to call them, but you do need something. How much I am willing to call with has to do with how much I am ahead or behind them in chip count. If I have them ten-to-one in chips, then I am happy to wait all day until I get a big pair in the pocket or a miracle flop. If I am behind them in chips, or near even, then I'm looking for a good ace or middle pair to call them. If I am getting desperate, then any Ace or any pair will do. If I am short stacked, then I am looking for any face card to call them back.

One of the ironies of playing with these players is that their favorite spot to push all-in is not when you check, but when you raise. They figure that if you had a monster, you would check-call, so by raising you are either bluffing, or playing a good but vulnerable hand. Besides which, your raise puts more money on the pot when they pick it up than if you merely check to them. So, before you do raise, think to yourself, "How will I respond if he pushes all in here?" and let that decision guide whether and how much you raise. Against these players, for example, I won't raise on a draw, since I am inviting them to come back over the top of me and make it too expensive to call. Instead, I will take the free card, wait to hit my hand, and then come out betting, hoping that they will choose that moment to push.

Against these players, it only takes one or two calls with the best hand to get all of their chips, so pick your spots, give them something to take down, and watch the look on their faces when you show them the winner.

Next month, we'll talk about changing gears. Until then, good luck at the heads-up tables.

Playing Heads Up Part 1 - The Basics

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