OK - I hope I don't get hate mail for letting out any secrets - LOL

I start off a HUHU session raising with a 45-50% range and mixing things up to limp or call occasionally (with a mix of hands) so that I'm "in play" 65-70%of the time - if my initial read or "feel" for the villain is that he folds often and rarely re-reraises then I can expand the range (ie become "LAGgier" and run over the fish)

OTOH - if he calls often and re-raises a lot, I'll restrict the range and become "TAGgier" - maybe raising with 30-35% and being "in-play" maybe 45-55% of the time. This is always moving target.

Also - see what happens post-flop - when I cbet or 3bet, see if he folds often (too often?), then increase LAG - if he raises/caps often and I feel like I am beat and folding too often, increase TAG.

Rinse and repeat throughout session as you adjust, the villain adjusts, you adjust etc... Balance LAGness and TAGness along a sliding scale to the fluid dynamics of the game you are in.

(NOOB disclaimer: This is just a starting point based on what I've read about being first in on the SB or BvB in a 6m game - I have no idea if any of this is at all reasonable - I don't know if "ranges" are a viable way to look at this or if these ranges are a reasonable starting point/endpoint when attempting to get a feel for your opponent - basically I'm clueless and making it up as I go).

The FTP tables are field with people playing HUHU now.

Speaking of videos, I rewatched DeathDonkey's Mano a Mule series (for about the 3rd time) and some of Danzasmack's HUHU stuff on DC. The more times I have watched them the more "aha" moments I have had about why they were doing what they were doing.

One thing I liked to do before uHULA was to go sit at the play money tables and wait for villains to sit. Most of them were pretty bad but occassionally you'd get a good one or one that played differently. It was fun to try to figure out how they were playing, to try to figure out ways to exploit it, and then trying to eventually busto them. I even had one sit that would 3bet everytime I raised out of the sb. I played around with one of Deathdonkey's techniques for combatting that situation and it eventually worked. Frustrated the hell out of the guy.

I think playing HUHU is fun but I don't have the bankroll to think about really exploring it. Nor do I have time and patience to learn the math behind it and I'd probably get my ass kicked regularly.

I guess I'll stick to table starting at my limits.


Doc

DC is too expensive for me - can't justify $25+ a month when that's about my entire win rate right now... maybe after moving up a couple more levels..

This basic strategy is too tight. Playing half your hands in a HUHU match is way too few. If you can find Bellatrix's HU match with mike007, watch how a good HU LHE player runs over someone who might be playing close to the strategy you suggest. I wanted to be sure on terminology. HU play is about choosing between ridiculous maniac, and just stupidly aggressive preflop. By the time you're down in the 30-35% opening range, you've basically given up more in blinds than you can ever make back with your good hands. Post flop, it is all about understanding hand values vs. his range of hands and becoming the idiot showdown monkey that all the FR guys laugh at, mixing that with dumb aggro at times.
I'm not with DC, though I like their founders and a bunch of their coaches. You should check out the free two week trial. They have no DRM, so you can download a bunch of stuff to watch later. They think you'll like what you see so much that you join later. Lots of other good sources of training, as well.

Agreed - I wouldn't slide to this range and stay there - just long enough to hit a couple strong hands and punish a few "ridiculous maniac" hands and then slide back up to "stupid aggro" - the intent is to leave the impression that when I am fighting back it's with "something".

The problem, as you have pointed out, is that this is too tight and doesn't really work as intended - leaving me lost as to how to combat a "ridiculous maniac"..

The problem is if I can't get a read on the maniac or he is so aggro that he could be on any range, then I don't know what threshold I should be folding versus passively going to SD versus when to agrressively fight back.

Do I just call down any weak pair or even Ah or K high? Qh or worse?
Raise/re-raise with any decent pair? 2nd pair? only with TP?
Is mixing in some donks a good strategy?

I know... the answer is = "depends - sometimes, sometimes not" - you may do one thing from the SB versus another from BB - you have to read the board texture - consider what you have or can represent, consider what he may have or be representing...

My head hurts - this HUHU stuff is complicated...

Sorry - where do I look for this? I'd more like to see how Bella crushes a "ridiculous maniac" ... And just to be clear, I am not "suggesting" this strategy. I know it's flawed - that's why I am seeking help - and I appreciate yours... Thanks.

You can get all the videos that I have posted on 2p2 for free on my website (look at my profile), as long as you acknowledge me as the author whenever you distribute them.

My default HUHU stats are something like 80/60 or the like. I don't play with a HUD, so I'm not sure. Your initial "loose" stats are super nitty. You start out as a HU nit and then move to someone who is just fun to run over. Thinking about earning the respect of a HU play is an artifact of being a full ring player. You know, tight is right? Here, tight is wrong. You can't punish a ridiculous maniac; you're punishing yourself by folding. This is off the top of my head, but your default HU opening range should be in the 65%-75% range.

Mike made a video of that match, also. I have both videos in my poker video folder. You can watch it from both sides. I've watched the beginning of both videos but I've never watched them both through to the finish. I plan on doing that in the next week.

Doc

IMO the best attitude for posting on a public forum is "I'll tell you the truth but I won't tell you everything." I believe most forums have been evolving in this direction for awhile now (although there's definitely a "let's flat-out attempt to mislead and confuse" contingent as well).

Look: Nobody loves the idea that recreational players might get better, but it's not the primary reason players are worried about people learning HUHU. You only have to go as far as NVG to find a current discussion (with appearances by Bryce Paradis) about the real nature of the problem.

It's nice that there's a forum like MSL where a developing LHE player can learn and discuss topics such as combinatorics, pot odds and equity edges. But these are things you could learn about from any of a hundred different sources and it's stuff you would surely discover or figure out anyway... assuming you're going to put any effort into it. The forum in this sense is a kind of study group. It may accelerate and reinforce the process, but you don't get anything here you couldn't get elsewhere.

And, as you've been speculating about from the beginning, the real action is at the tables anyway.

:-D I think you're safe with that one.

Bella - ur vids are great so far - I like your style - thank you

Thanks for the compliments. Any suggestions for improvement are always appreciated, you can also voice them on the forums.

bump, because themuppets mentioned it and I just saw "The muppets" movie in the theater . And because I think it's a fine primer to get people interested without giving away too much.

Bump

Great read

Thanks for the Bump!