Heads Up!

You know, something I overlooked while I was posting yesterday was that there was a span of a couple days where 2 or 3 of my favorite bloggers really raved about HU SNGs and how profitable they were, so back around the beginning of August I decided to check out the scene, and ended up pretty happy with the results.

The thing about these is that I really feel like I should win every one, so when I lose it really bugs me. Some might argue that heads up isn't necessarily so much about beating the player, but moreso about the point at which you both make a hand worthy of getting it in the middle, and seeing who comes out with the best of it, and who ends up feeling cold-decked. And I think that's fair.

But, of course, some of us would like to think there is a lot more to it. Its about building your stack so you can put pressure on your opponent and withstand an all-in if you have to. Or its about building a table image and then when you know they're onto you, switching it up. Or its about relentless aggression. Or its about playing so passively you let your opponent run over you, only to trap them so hard they never saw it coming. Or some combination of all of these.

So even though a fair share of these will end up being a lottery, the ones that start to go a few hands certainly get a little more interesting as things progress.

Anyway, I played 5 of them on 8/4 and 8/5, and managed to cash in three. When I won my first one in 14 hands, I was like "wow, these really are *that* easy". Only to get into my 2nd one and end up defeated in 81 grueling hands. But then there was the third, which I won in exactly 3 hands. So day 1 of this experiment was from one extreme to the other. The next day I split another pair of them in what I suspect is a relatively average...maybe a *little* high...45 and 66 hands, and then I haven't been back since. But I definitely see sprinkling some of these when I'm short on time and/or don't necessarily feel like exerting enough poker prowess to take on 9 or more opponents.

As far as the value, I guess you can't really argue with it. You essentially double your money, which is just a little better than finishing 3rd place in a 9 player SNG. The number of hands is around the same as finishing 3rd in a SNG, but of course a majority of the hands are significantly faster, so if you could be successful as a heads up SNG player, I would think the value is pretty high. Might be a decent little bankroll builder for some "back to basics" poker if you're running bad or something.

Anyway, I thought that was worth mentioning. Just incase there's anyone out there like me who hasn't been to that arena and was looking for a little insight.

As far as my heads up game in general, I go back and forth on it. Sometimes I feel like I'm a heads up donkey, and sometimes I feel like I've assembled a nice little strategy. So at this point I guess I'll just say "I'm working on it".

Two posts in two days? I'm on fire!