Heads-Up

Heads-up poker is a game between only two players, either as a standalone format or when a multi-player game has been reduced to two remaining players. It requires a fundamentally different strategy than full-ring play because you must play far more hands and adjust constantly to your single opponent.

In heads-up play, position becomes even more critical. The button acts last post-flop and posts the small blind pre-flop (in the standard heads-up format). With only two players, you are either in the best position or the worst, with no middle ground. Button play should be extremely aggressive.

Heads-up specialists develop strong opponent-reading skills because every hand is against the same player. The ability to identify and exploit patterns in your opponent's play, including bet sizing tells, timing tells, and frequency-based tendencies, is more important in heads-up than in any other format.