If you're a heads up player, it's very likely that you didn't start out a heads up player. You started playing a different variation or format, maybe something like 6-max or sit and go tournaments. Regardless, you should already have an understanding of what position is and why it's important in poker.
If you don't, I have briefly gone over this below. Additionally, I have gone over some tactics that all heads up player should know and/or use more frequently while in position playing heads up poker.
The blinds and button in heads up poker is placed as follows; button will always post the small blind, while the other player will post the big blind. Post flop, the big blind will act first, and the person who posted a small blind (button in our case) will remain in the position. Next hand positions of the blinds and the button will switch. If you love poker, then you will love PokerTube. The world's largest Poker Media website has everything you need to follow the games that matter to you. With over 20,000 videos available covering a wide variety of live and online games, Pokertube is a priceless resource for enthusiasts and professionals alike. You should play the following hands from the button, at the very least: 22+, A2+, K2s+, K5o+, Q2s+, Q6o+, J2s+, J7o+, as well as suited connectors and mid offsuit connectors. Always enter the pot with a raise. Tighten up defending against button raises when you are the big blind.
General Importance of Position
Position in poker is important, no matter what poker game or variation you're playing. The reasons for this are simple.
- You are last to act. Being last to act gives you the advantage of seeing what each player decides to do. Using this information, you can make better informed decisions as to what to do with your hand.
- Control the size of the pot. If you're in position, it's much easier to control the size of the pot. Say you're trying to keep the pot small. You can simply call if you're bet into or check if checked to. This is much more difficult to accomplish out of position. When you act first, you just don't know if your opponent is going to bet or raise.
- It's much easier to bluff or apply pressure. Again, if you can see your opponents act before you do, then it's easier to determine if your opponent is weak or strong. You can than bet to apply pressure to push him off his hand or try to bluff to steal the pot.
Put simply; everything is much easier to accomplish when you're in position verses being out of position.
Why Position is Important in Heads Up Poker
Position in heads up poker is important simply because there is no middle ground. Unlike a game where there are more players, you can't be in position verses some players and out of position verses others. In heads up poker, either you're in or you're out.
Something else to keep in mind is that regardless of your position, you're always in the blinds. It's always costing you money to be dealt a hand. It's worse out of position as you're the big blind. So if you're playing a positionally unaware game, you're going to cost yourself a lot of money. This is going to be hard to recoup, even if you manage to steal a ton of blindswhile on the button.
How to Use Position in Heads Up Poker
The tactics and strategies you use while playing heads up poker in position will be similar to any other game. However, you'll have to use them more often. After all, you're in position every other hand.
Here are some strategies or tactics that I suggest using (or using more of) in position when playing heads up poker.
The Float
Heads Up Poker Button Positions
Floating is a play where you call a player's flop bet with the intention of lifting the pot on a later street. Most times when you float, you don't actually have a hand. However, in heads up poker, if you have something like ace or king high, you have a decent hand - one that has showdown value no less.
(Bestpokersites.org has written a great article about floating. Be sure to check it out.)
How often you float will depend mostly on your opponent, but you should consider the flop texture too. You should ask yourself questions like; how often does my opponent c-bet and does he like to double barrel? The more frequent your opponent c-bets, the more often you should float. I like to float weak-tight players who tend to c-bet the flop and shut down if they have yet to improve. These guys are easy pickings in position.
Bluff Raising the Flop
I'm not sure if 'bluff raising' is the proper term, or if there is even a proper term for it.
Anyway, by bluff raising I mean to 3-bet your opponent when he donks out on the flop. This will frequently be a c-bet and by being in position, you can reapply the pressure. This maneuver is mostly profitable verses players who donk the flop a ton. I would also suggest doing it on moderately textured boards. In other words, if it's too dry a board, sometimes you ask to be re-popped and if it's a super coordinated board, you'll hardly ever get folds. So somewhere in between is best.
Raise the Majority of Your Hands from the Button
Because of position, you should be raising most of your hands on the button, if you're not doing so already. You're going to be in position for the entire hand, so you might as well start to apply the pressure early. In fact, many players raise 100% of the hands they're dealt on the button and their range back as the match progresses and they better determine what they're opponent's range is like.
C-Bet Frequently
Since you're opening the button with a wide range of hands (or should be), you should also be c-betting frequently.
While you can c-bet from either position, the bonus to c-betting while in position is that you got to see what you're opponent did first. It's very likely that he just checked to you, in which case you can assume that he's weak or has nothing. Your c-bet will often take the pot down.
Sure, sometimes your opponent will check raise you. But this won't be as often as you think, unless you're heads up with a maniac. That plus the fact that you can see some check raises before they happen. A good example of this would be on flops like Jh-Th-7s or something where there are tons of draws possible. But you can just simply counter a check-raise by not letting it happen in the first place - if you're opponent checks to you, simply check back. Isn't position great?
Summary of Position in Heads Up Poker
Position is imperative in any poker game, format or variation. It helps you to gain more info which in turn enables you to make better decisions as to what play is best for your current situation.
How To Play Heads Up Poker
In heads up poker, this is no different. In fact, you could even say it's more important. In a game where you're in and out of position every other hand and it's costing you money regardless, knowing how to play according to your position will without a doubt mean the difference between being a losing player or being a winner.
Position in the betting sequence, relative to the others in the hand, is an important aspect in making a profit in all forms of poker. In heads-up poker, where you face only one opponent, this becomes even more important.
Your position in the betting sequence is determined by the dealer button. This alternates between the 2 players and fixes who acts first and last for the entire hand. Before the flop the player with the dealer button posts the small blind and the remaining player the big blind. This means the small blind is first to act before the flop but importantly is last to act on the flop, turn and river betting rounds.
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In full ring games holding the dealer button only conveys part of the advantage that it does in heads-up poker. This is because it is position relative to the pre-flop raiser which is the important part. If in a full-ring game you hold the button but the raiser is to your immediate right with other players still to act behind you then much of this advantage has gone. The difference in a heads-up poker match is that acting last means exactly that – you always act after your opponent.
So what is the advantage of being last to act after the flop and how should this be used. The key point is that most heads-up hands will completely miss the flop. In last position you are able to gather information on the strength of your opponents holding before you have to act.
Imagine you hold a good, but not great hand like a pair of 4’s before the flop. From the button (small blind) you should usually raise. If your opponent calls he has already given you some information – he has some kind of a hand but nothing worth re-raising you with. On the flop you then see your opponent check, knowing that he has shown weakness twice you can feel comfortable with betting, unless the flop is particularly draw-heavy your opponent will usually have to fold.
Let us compare the same hand in the Big Blind. As before there is a raise before the flop, this time you flat call waiting for the flop which comes as 3 medium to high cards. Here you could bet, this risks getting raised on a bluff (or semi-bluff) from your opponent who may or may not have your hand beaten. If you check and he bets then you are in an equally difficult situation.
Position is still an advantage if you make a set of 4’s on the flop. From the small blind you can decide whether to raise to build a pot, or call to give your opponent a chance to make a hand good enough to call on the turn. From the big blind betting out after calling the raise pre-flop is a show of great strength – you could easily make your opponent fold. Check-raising is an option likely to win only a few additional chips here and even a check followed by a call will cause an opponent who missed the flop to stop betting.
The key to position play in heads-up poker is that when last to act after the flop you are in a better position to build a big pot with your strong hands, and based on your opponents actions can lose the least when you are behind. Out of position (Big Blind) players have the opposite case – it is more difficult to build that big pot when ahead and difficult to know where you stand in the hand when you are weak and your opponent bets. This means your are able to play more hands, and should generally raise with those hands, when you hold the dealer button.
First position after the flop does have some advantages, especially in those cases where nobody has shown much aggression before the flop. The player who acts first can exercise what is known as the ‘Right to First Bluff’. Since most hands will miss most flops this can often take down a small pot uncontested. Of course if you are called or even raised and have no hand then you must give up immediately – the benefit of last position has demonstrated itself yet again.
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