Heads Up Poker Is Dealer Small Blind
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Heads up poker matches require a unique skill set that is totally different from winning strategy at 9 or 10 handed poker tables. There are a lot of differences in how the two games are set up, and those differences require a different style of play. This article will look at structural and psychological differences between heads up poker and full 9 handed poker, as well as how players adjust to be successful at the heads up poker tables:
Structural Differences
The dealer is always the small blind heads up.This is a special rule that comes into force for heads-up and is contrary to what you would expect - usually the player to the left of the dealer button post the small blind, which would make the dealer the big blind, but for some reason it changes heads-up. This instructable will show you the pattern for making an Octohedron or D8 heads up poker blinds dealer out of cardstock. In fixed-limit games, no one may bet or raise by more than the established limit. When starting heads-up play, deal a single card face-up to each player. The player with the highest card gets the button first. This player posts the small blind, and the other player posts the big blind. Both players post antes into the center of the table if there are any antes. The player in the small blind (aka, on the button) plays first.
The main and most obvious reason heads up play is different is because of the game's structure. Obviously there are only two players at the table, and this causes a bunch of issues. First of all, when you're at a heads up table you're in the blinds every single hand. Also, only two sets of hole cards are dealt out each hand, which changes relative hand strength. And finally, your position becomes extremely important because you're either in the best possible position or in the worst possible position at the table.
Blinds Every Hand
The first difference we'll discuss is the fact that at a heads up table, you're always forced to put money in the pot preflop. You'll either be the small blind or the big blind every hand. This is drastically different from a ring game where you're only in the blinds 2/9 or 2/10 times, depending on if you play at 9 or 10 handed tables.
The main adjustment you'll have to make is to simply play far more of your hands. Since you're going to have money in every pot, you may as well see the majority of the flops so you aren't just forfeiting money. We recommend playing any reasonable hand preflop, which includes any suited connectors, any decent connecting cards, any pocket pair, any big cards - basically anything that has a reasonable chance of making a decent hand.
Relative Hand Strength
This one is pretty obvious. If you deal out nine hands, then deal the board, odds are the best hand will be pretty solid (at least a big pair). However, if you deal out two hands, then deal the board, odds are the best hand will be a weak pair or maybe even just a high card. Because of this, your relative hand strength in heads up poker is much different than at a nine handed table.
For example, if you have A7 with an Ace on the board, it is probably no good at a nine-handed table, but at a heads up table you have a really strong hand and should value bet. Also, this is the reason you should value bet hands like middle pair or two pair on a tough board, because it's likely your hand is better than your opponent's.
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Whos Big Blind In Heads Up Poker
Position
Position becomes even more of a factor in heads up poker than it is at nine-handed tables. Since there are only two players at the table, you're either in the best position (dealer/small blind) or in the worst position (big blind). Because of this you should play aggressively preflop when you're dealer, and passively when you're the big blind.
In dealer position I like to raise around 50% of the time, and will raise anything from suited connectors to pocket pairs to two big cards. When I'm the big blind I'll almost always check if the dealer limps in, and will only call a dealers' raise if I have a solid hand.
Who Is The Big Blind In Heads Up Poker
Psychological Differences
Besides just structural differences, there are also a few psychological differences between the two games. First of all, you're only playing one player as opposed to eight or nine, so there's much more opportunity to get inside each other's head, as well as pick up their playing tendencies and weaknesses.
As a result of this, I like to switch up my heads up game often to avoid giving away my standard plays. For example, I'll raise as the dealer quite often, then I'll back off and switch gears to avoid keeping the same table image the entire game. Also, if you take a bad beat heads up the other player can really get you tilting if they start chatting with you and haggling you. To learn how to handle that, read about avoiding poker tilt.
More Heads Up Poker Strategy:
In button games, a non-playing dealer normally does the actual dealing. A round disk called the button is used to indicate which player has the dealer position. The player with the button is last to receive cards on the initial deal and has the right of last action after the first betting round. The button moves clockwise after a deal ends to rotate the advantage of last action. One or more blind bets are usually used to stimulate action and initiate play. Blinds are posted before the players look at their cards. Blinds are part of a player's bet, unless the structure of a game or the situation requires part or all of a particular blind to be 'dead.' Dead chips are not part of a player's bet. With two blinds, the small blind is posted by the player immediately clockwise from the button, and the big blind is posted by the player two positions clockwise from the button. With more than two blinds, the small blind is normally to the left of the button (not on it). Action is initiated on the first betting round by the first player to the left of the blinds. On all subsequent betting rounds, the action begins with the first active player to the left of the button.