Heads up Holdem as seen on TV is not easy to play and takes some experience to play well. It can be played as just a game at one table or as an elimination tournament that winners keep playing each other until one of them is left standing. A player is eliminated when they lose all of the starting chips. When you see the Heads Up tournament on TV you see the correct way to play this game. Starting hands can be a small pair to a really good high pair. Players do not wait around for a super hand to start a play. They go with their instincts and play very hard right from the get-go. The play is difficult to keep simple, as heads up play is not only the cards that are dealt, but also the feel for the hand. Rules that are used in a cash Holdem game are not played the same in a Heads Up game. By rules this game is played a lot by feel and not by just the value of the hands.
The Heads Up game is played with a great deal of aggressive play and not just waiting around for a pair of Aces. Players will make larger bets in a no limit game than the hand should really cause to bet. This aggression is hard to combat unless the opposing player is aggressive right back. This is why you see a pair of nines beat a pair of fives. For a player that is not used to playing this aggressively it is hard to make the calls you are forced to make with suspect hands. You are not likely to get many self-playing hands and you will need to play poker with less than perfect starting hands. If you are not comfortable with this play, you will need to learn to do it in a limit version of Heads Up. No limit would be too much of a jump in a real money game, but probably okay in a tournament. with a low entry fee.
The biggest problem every player has in this poker game version of Holdem is that they are forced to play weaker hands like they are pocket aces. This takes poker skill and very good judgment of what the other player may be holding and betting like the two cards are aces.
If you catch a significant hand due to the Flop it may be the play is to check raise if you can arrange the wager. In this game a check is considered a weak play so you could get the chance for this play without much worry. Letting the other player get a free draw at a flush or a straight is a big no-no in this game. In fact there are very few free cards in this game. Most cards dealt are very quickly bet as if they made a hand. This deception lets players with poor hands pull the pot down more than they ever should due to the aggressive betting this game causes. Players that are learning the game have to change their thinking substantially to play this game correctly. The only way this can be accomplished for most people is to play it and learn by doing. Start out in some of the less expensive tournament with just a few tables. Once you learn to play you can play with the best players in the world and have a real chance of winning. Give it a try and you may find that you are a natural at playing a six-five like it is a pair of Aces.
| 
