NL holdem heads up SNG’s
NL holdem heads up SNG’s are the fastest way to balloon your bankroll, and something that many great players have got their start with. Previous main event champions such as Peter Eastgate and Joe Cada only play this type of game because it is a pressure packed game and appeals to the younger players. Also, you can go progress through the limits if you are able to beat this type of game and make yourself in to a millionaire throughout the course of a year. There are downswings that can occur if you let them occur in heads ups. Losing is part of poker and you cannot just go out and dominate high level games right away. You have to crawl before you walk and pick up how to play the game at the lower limits before you can move up. Many lower limit games aren’t that hard and you should only be playing one heads up at a time if you are just starting. More advanced players multi table heads ups, but to have the most focus on one player and their betting patterns you can pick it up easier by just playing one table.
When starting a heads up SNG and the blinds are small you don’t want to play every pot and risk a lot of chips early. You want to slowly chip away in heads up sit and goes and then finally culminate by winning a race or getting your opponent stuck. If you do have that big pair early in a match you will want to get the most for it. To do this if your opponent opens to 60 with blinds 10/20 raise to 160 with your big pairs Ak/AQ and simply flat call if you have a hand like KJ or 55. The reason to not three bet with small pairs or hands like KJ is because if your opponent comes back over the top before the flop then you have just thrown money away. If they come over the top when you have the big pair then you can win the match and move on to the next one. You will have more set equity if your opponent raised before the flop because a lot of the time they will continuation bet the flop. You can then check raise them in the pot and collect more than if you would of lead the flop or re-raised before the flop.
Getting value for hands in a sit and go is the main key to being successful. If you can pick the correct lines and have your opponent guessing as of what to do you have done your job as a heads up player. Applying pressure and making it difficult for your opponent is what your goal should be along with picking spots to stack through or beat your opponent. Games like no limit holdem can be tilting at times because you can do everything right and still come out on the losing end. The main idea to keep is to analyze your play and to always keep a stable mental mindset. Once you lose your mind playing you lose your money as well. If you can gather your thoughts and keep progressing as a player than you will progress through the limits.
