Working Out Level 1 or Level 2
Good heads up strategy in poker is trying to work out what level of poker your opponent is on. The first few hands of heads up is to see what type of arsenal your opponent possesses. Are they capable of bluffing? Are there any noticeable betting patterns or tells that your opponent has yet to hide? How do they like to play high cards? Do they like to fast play or slow play? How do they use their position?
These are all questions that should be running through your head as you try to work out the patterns of your opponent. Once a few hands have passed you can then start to utilise the information they have given to you to outplay them. Suddenly you know that if they check the turn, the pot is yours to steal or bomb for on the river. Your opponent¡¯s preflop raise usually means that they are on picture cards and will never continuation bet the flop unless they connect with it.
Such outplaying will allow you to avoid leaking too many unnecessary chips to your opponent and allow you to slowly chip away at their stack through mini raises and bluffs. Using position well in heads up is crucial and you have to be prepared to go all in with your marginal cards, especially when the blinds are high and folding gives up more than 10% of your stack. At this point in time, a double up means a commanding chip lead or a surge back to being competitive.
Good heads up play takes a lot of practice and a lot of experience to know what types of opponents are capable of. Practice against different opponents to recognise what style of poker you have to play to take them down.
