How To Beat The Short Stack In Heads-Up Poker

Have you ever been in a heads-up poker match and realized just how much DIFFERENT one-on-one poker is from "regular" poker?

Most players learn strategies for winning no-limit Texas Holdem when there are 4... 6... 8... or 12 players at the table.

Not 2.

Yet, you can't win a game or a tournament without MASTERING heads-up play. In fact, heads-up play is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of no-limit Holdem... and here's why:

If you can't win at heads-up poker, you'll never come in first place.

Period.

And I don't know about you, but I play to WIN. Not to come in second place.

Most players... when they make it to a heads-up match... are COMPLETELY CLUELESS and don't know what to do. Especially when it comes to DEFENDING a chip lead.

Why is that?

I think there are three main reasons...

1. Most players only make it to a heads-up match once in awhile.... so they have very little EXPERIENCE playing poker one-on-one.

2. The strategies for starting hands, odds, tells, and betting are so RADICALLY DIFFERENT for heads-up poker versus-- say, at an 8-man table-- that most players don't have the KNOWLEDGE needed.

3. Most players don't get to watch and study poker GREATS play heads-up Holdem, because even the greats will only make it to a heads-up match once in awhile.

With that said, let me share with you a rather EMBARRASSING story of how I got "schooled" in a heads-up match earlier in my poker career... and how I learned the "secrets" to winning in heads-up poker...

I had fought my way through a 100-man tournament, and found myself heads-up with someone named Brandon.

Brandon was (and is) a very skilled poker player who loves to push the action... but at the time, I wasn't intimidated by him. Because I thought I had this baby in the bag...

You see, I had been catching monster after monster in this tournament, and I had JUST finished knocking out two players at once with trip kings.

My chip lead was HUGE. 10 to 1 over Brandon, actually.

I was on a roll.

I had over $100,000 in chips, versus Brandon's $10,000, with the blinds at $500/$1000.

This thing is OVER, right?

The first hand I looked at was Q,9 while I was small blind. I limped in, and the action went to Brandon.

"All in," he said.

I folded.

I didn't want to give him the chance to double up.

The next hand was K,4 offsuit. Once again, Brandon went all-in.

I folded again, and Brandon raked in more blinds.

The next hand I was dealt was A,4. Brandon goes all-in AGAIN.

This time, I called.

He threw over pocket 4's. The flop, turn, and river come out:

K,7,9,2,Q

So I didn't hit my ace, and Brandon doubled up.

By this time, he was sitting on $24,000 in chips, and I was at $86,000.

The next few hands played out... and Brandon continued to go all-in time after time... and I continued to fold hands like K,7, Q,9, J,8, and so on.

I just didn't want to risk doubling him up AGAIN with such "mediocre" hands.

But before you knew it... it didn't matter.

Because I'd let Brandon right back into the game.
He had taken about 10 straight pots from me...

I was frustrated as all hell, and went on tilt.
As you probably guessed, I blew the rest of my chip lead and lost the match.

Honestly, I think this CHOKE should go down in the history books right next to the Yankees versus Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS.

Just writing this newsletter makes me SICK to my stomach.

Anyway, what's REALLY IMPORTANT is what I did AFTER I lost that tournament.

I called up my buddy Drew... and I told him he was going to come over and play in me $20 heads-up games.

I think Drew could hear the frustration (and
DESPERATION) in my voice... so he came right over.

We started playing at 7 P.m. and didn't finish until well after 5 A.M. in the morning. We completed OVER 50 GAMES THAT NIGHT...

Now let me tell you, I wouldn't trade that night for ANY other experience in my poker career.

It changed EVERYTHING for me.

And here's why:

Because I crammed in YEARS of heads-up experience into that one night...

I learned how to play with a big chip lead... how to play when I was short-stacked... how to "lean"
on my opponent with a small chip lead... and so on and so on.

And since then, I've done this same exercise with TONS of other poker players... to keep my skills FRESH and to master the techniques needed to win against different playing styles.

When I was up against Brandon in that tournament, I had made a TON of mistakes.

You see, when you have a big chip lead in heads-up action, the first secret is YOU MUST ATTACK.

To get a perspective on this, think about how you play when you're the SHORT STACK...

You're prepared to go all-in as soon as possible, right?

Well, you must use this to your ADVANTAGE when you're the big stack, and PUT YOUR OPPONENT ALL-IN right away... rather than the other way around.

When you have a big chip lead, YOU must be the one to create "coin-toss" situations... and fast.

A coin-toss situation is when both players have virtually equal odds... and the winning hand is determined by whatever the flop, turn, and river cards are.

In heads-up poker, any starting hand with a FACE CARD is playable. Or any pocket pair. It's that simple.

If you've got a big chip lead on your opponent and he CHECKS or LIMPS-IN (calls the blinds), then you should IMMEDIATELY put him all-in.

He wouldn't be checking or limping-in if he had ANYTHING DECENT at all...

If he folds, you've stolen the blinds from him, which is crucial. If he calls, you've created a "coin-toss" situation.

Odds are you'll win at least one out of every two coin toss situations. Or at the very least, you'll win one out of three.

Here's a basic summary of the "rules" you should follow when playing heads-up poker with a huge chip lead. When I say "huge", I'm talking about 10 to 1 or more...

Of course, you won't START with a 10:1 chip lead very often (like I did against Brandon), but you will frequently BECOME the 10:1 chip leader in a heads-up match if you're a skilled player.

And that's the exact moment when you MUST PULL THE TRIGGER AND WIN THE GAME.

If you don't, the chip stacks can quickly even out again and you may lose your chance forever.

Anyway... here are the RULES you should follow:

1. Any starting hand with a face card or any pocket pair is good.

2. You should either FOLD or go ALL-IN every time.
Nothing else.

3. Force COIN-TOSS situations... In other words, leverage the 50/50 ODDS as much as possible. Do this two or three times and you will almost always win the match.

4. If you're playing against a tight player, it will be even easier. Keep going all-in on just about every hand and let the blinds eat him to death.

Read and re-read those four principles and you'll be prepared the next time you make it to a heads-up match.

In the meantime, you should IMMEDIATELY do two
things:

1. Call a friend or poker buddy and invite him over to play you heads-up. Put $5 or even just $1 on each game... it doesn't matter.

The point is to play game after game after game in a heads-up setting. Play for as long as you possibly can.

When you're done, call a different friend and do the same thing again. And then do it again next week. And keep doing this over and over...

Trust me, your poker skills will SKYROCKET when you follow this simple exercise.