Increasing your Level of Heads Up Play

As you become more experienced in heads-up poker play then moving up the levels will increase your profitability at the tables. This article looks at some of the fundamental criteria for assessing whether you are ready to move up in levels. The key concepts here are inter-related, as the stakes rise so will the average skill level of your opponents. You will also need to ensure that you have a bankroll big enough to withstand the natural swings of fortune in heads-up poker games.

At the lowest levels your opponents will make a lot of mistakes, these turn into your profits at the end of the week, month and year. Playing solid poker with as few errors as possible can show a good profit at the lower levels. However the skills that you learn here may not be the right ones for beating better opponents at the higher buy-ins.

Taking a shot at the next level should primarily be dictated by your bankroll. Once you have enough buy-ins that a few losses would not affect you too much then it is time to take a shot. Watch your opponents carefully to get an idea of who are the good and bad players at your site. While players in the $10 to $20 levels will make many mistakes they will often not be as big and obvious as those make by your lowest level opponents. Now you will need to adapt better to your opponent’s tendencies, betting patterns and leaks. Solid positional play, good starting hand selection and a solid understanding of probability concepts such as odds and outs should be enough to beat opponents in the medium levels.

Taking a shot at the next level up also involves discipline. If the cards go against you or you find yourself out-played by stronger opponents then it is important to move back down again. Do not see this as a defeat – use the opportunity to learn from the experience and then try again once you have rebuilt your bankroll to a sufficient level.

By the time you are comfortable playing the $20 heads-up matches it is time to consider the skills required to take a shot at the $30 to $50 level. The fundamental rule of ensuring that you have a big enough bankroll to withstand some losses is important here. In addition you will need to build on your game and include such skills as hand-reading, pot size control and having the ability to adjust to a better level of overall play. Taking the time to review your own matches after they have finished and make honest appraisals about whether you could have played a hand better will help you continually improve as you move up the heads-up poker levels.

By now you have become comfortable beating the $50 matches (possibly after a couple of moves back to the $30 matches to build up that bankroll) and it is time to take the next step up to the $100 level. Here you will find a new level of opponent, players who make relatively few mistakes themselves but are aware of yours and ready to exploit them! There are some different skills required here as well as a solid understanding and use of the previous ones. You will need to play in such a way as to force the difficult decisions onto your opponent while keeping your own decisions as simple as possible. You will also need to bring your thinking to the second level, assessing what your opponent is assuming you think of his holding. As you gain experience – and continue to learn from both your own and others hand histories – these skills will become second nature.

To summarize, moving up the levels in heads-up poker involves 3 components. Improving your poker skills to beat successively stronger opponents, ensuring that your bankroll can withstand natural variance at the next level and having the discipline to move back down to rebuild if things do not go as planned.