So, you’ve worked your butt off in a tournament, fought your way through large field and made it all the way to heads up play. Most players don’t have a lot of experience getting heads up in large tournaments and more often than not if you do make it you’ll be up against an opponent who in all likelihood will have far more experience than you do.
Let’s assume this is the case, you’ve made it all the way to heads up and you’re up against a player who you know to be a total monster that on any given day can wipe the floor with you, how can you level the playing field?
There are a couple of systems out there that are specific to heads up play but be aware that these systems are entirely based on ICM’s (Independent Chip Models), they are essentially designed as a Pre-flop push/fold strategy based on the multiples of the BB you have in your stack, the multiples of the BB your opponent has in his stack and whether it essentially correct to either push or fold based on the two cards you have been dealt. Both of these systems really come into play when you are under X20BB.
One of these systems is called “The Nash Push/Fold Equilibrium”, so named after the Nobel Prize winning economist, mathematician and game theorist, John Forbes Nash, who was incidentally portrayed by Russell Crowe in the movie, “A Beautiful Mind”.
Nash contended that in any kind of game including heads-up no limit holdem there exists an equilibrium of sorts whereby if two players make the correct decisions based on stack sizes and pre-flop holdings then there would essentially be an impasse. This system does not allow for the inclusion of betting patterns or physical tells but what it will do is assist you in making perfect poker decisions based on its criteria. An astute player might argue that tells of one description or another are a huge part of your game, and they would be correct, however as we all know in poker he or she who makes the least mistakes usually triumphs and this system is designed to help you do just that when faced with an opponent who has far more experience than you do.
Following is a link to where you can a copy of the charts which is handy for online play.
http://www.holdemresources.net/hr/sngs/hune.html
The second of these systems, called the “SAGE System was developed by Lee Jones and James Kittock and is primarily based on the Nash system. The difference between the two systems will be your ability to be able to memorize and use “SAGE” at the table. Jones and Kittock basically developed a relatively simple method of determining when it would be correct to either push or fold in your head which is pretty handy.
As opposed to stealing their thunder here is a link to the Card Player page which will enable you to read up on it for yourselves. It probably makes more sense to read this link first and get more of a grounding on what it all means.
http://www.cardplayer.com/magazine/article/15250
I think a thorough understanding of these systems will assist any player in achieving better results heads-up, especially when playing against an opponent who is far better at this part of the game.
