I haven't been playing poker long but I decided to give HU a try tonight because I typically play very well against other players heads up in cash games and tournaments. It turned out to be, by far, the most tilting experience of my life.

I don't understand it. One guy is shoving with 23o, the next guy hits every single flop on earth HARD, the next guy...I have KQo with 1130 chips, he has 1530 chips and calls with 68o when I shove and wins. Am I doing it wrong? Do you not shove with 20-30bb when you're that far ahead of the opponent?

Just a general point in the right direction would help me. I won the first one and then lost three in a row in about 10 minutes and just have never felt more clueless in poker. Let's face it: If the deck slams him and misses you in HU - that's it, right? How on earth can you overcome that? Is there supposed to be just ridiculous, wild variance in HU because this is exactly the kind of poker I'm trying to avoid: Just losing 15+ buyins for no reason other than "variance". Never happens to me in SNG's and MTT's.

I'm sorry to be so tilty and upset here but that's just ridiculous. One opponent had top pair top kicker EVERY hand. Obviously that's an auto loss. The next guy kept shoving and finally I look him up and he has AA. He shoved 4 times in a row. The next guy calls a shove like I said with a random 68o and wins. Is this pretty much the typical in a HU game? Ridiculous, donk poker as seen in just about every cash game?

It just seems so random. I'm studying videos on HU games too and one game people are shoving on the first three hands in a row, the next game goes 20+ minutes before someone shoves. There just seems to be no rhyme or reason. One guy has KK, the next 69o, the next 24s. Sometimes with 30bb, sometimes with 5, sometimes with 75. It just seems like a shove/donk fest.

Yes, avoid heads up poker if you don't like variance.

No

reading posts like this tilts me, this one is especially ridiculous you lost 3 games from 4 and are crying on forum? there are people who run 100s buy ins under ev
if you cant handle losing 3/4 games, than dont play, what do you expect? win every game?
be happy donks are calling your openjams with 86o, if you dont want that play regs at higher stakes and they wont do that, I guarantee

and lol at this: Just losing 15+ buyins for no reason other than "variance". Never happens to me in SNG's and MTT's.

are you trolling?? variance in hu is waaaay smaller than in more player sng and mtt variance is just huuuuge

Totally random. Nothing but variance.

most likely NOT

Work on your mental game. Tendlers book seems to be good for this.
Don't analyze the population tendencies when you are playing. Just focus on playing one hand at a time and do the statistical analysis later using Poker Tracker or other software.

The fact that opponents are doing crazy things is very good and profitable. You should be happy, not frustrated if somebody shoves 32o.

Just wait to see when you are 400$ under EV at 7$ and 15$ HU turbo... if you can handle a month of bad run and suckouts you can play HU sng.. if you loose 3/4 and you are frustrated you should stop playing HU..

Sent from my GT-I9505 using 2+2 Forums

nice level

Real talk to win a tournament you not only have to get a ridic run of cards you also need some type of miracle to fade all the coinflips... I mean how many times in a row can you really hit heads? That one time tho is when you win

Maybe Holdem is too random then. Maybe we need to work on a new style of poker or bring back stud poker. It's kind of silly when good, winning players keep running 100 BI's under EV. What's the point of them playing? Why would they play a game they're good at where the worst player wins 50%+ of the time?

It's things like this that keep the large majority of the world screaming that poker is just about luck and randomness. It basically is half of the time.

because chess is soooooo huge these days.....

In the long run it isn't luck. Yes you have that lucky card, that lucky day or week. But itlr it's not like that.

those guys with 100BI's under EV continue to grind and it will even out eventually or they'll make it back.

As stated, I'm new. I am about a -2 bb/100 player in 2nl, 4nl, and 5nl cash games but I have done really, really well in MTT's and 6-10 man SNG's. I honestly find it pretty easy to keep getting into the money in the MTT's and actually winning the SNG's. I'm playing anywhere from $2.50 to $6.50 buyins.

I just thought I would start giving HUSNG's a shot because it seems like a potentially profitable, reliable stream of SNG income and I've always been intrigued with the heads up game. If things really do even out over time and the beats simply can be outrun by volume if you're truly making +EV decisions, then fine. I can understand why losing 3/4 isn't really a big deal, especially when it's new to me.

I was just frustrated and tilting. Of course, the game was completely over my head last night because I was just sitting down and trying it for the first time. I have a bunch of HUSNG.com tabs loaded up and I'm going to spend some time studying this game like I have the other games that I'm currently playing well.

Sorry for the rant. Just a tilting night when I lost half of my day's SNG profits in 45 minutes.

Um....interesting you say that. I spent about two years dabbling in chess on and off before deciding to spend my time on poker. I love chess. I mean, I love it. Indeed though, it's extremely outdated and the game is dying. The fact that you can't reliably play competitive games on the internet will ultimately be it's bane. Traveling three hours and staying in hotels to play a tournament where you *might* win $25 isn't really the kind of thing people are into these days. Besides that, it's a young man's game. You can't pick up chess at 25+ and get great one day. You can get *good*, but not great. Never.

Besides all of that, the younger, newer players today want no part of long, traditional chess games. They all play blitz and think a 90/30 game is beyond conceivably long. Most of the tournaments at my local chess clubs are playing 35/5 games. That's ridiculous for a tournament.

So no, I'm definitely not saying that chess is a better game than poker. I don't think it's even comparable. Poker is 10x the game and as much as I appreciate and enjoy chess, I spend and will spend all of my time on poker.

Because they have an edge in the long run.

It's also the reason fish play and the game is profitable.

fyp

That sentence is just awesome just become the worst player - easy solution

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Seriously though, from reading your posts, you were probably just getting lucky in SnGs and MTTs and unlucky in HUsng. Suddenly something seems easier than the other. You have to play enough to get a decent sample to judge things.

Losing 3/4 and complaining on the forum is just lol. Look at the best players on Sharkscope and look up losing streaks. Its not uncommon to lose 10 or more in a row even if you are crushing the game long term. Its all about variance

C-, too obvious

Points:
- Maybe you're not that good at HU even in the formats you note. Maybe your success has largely been the result of luck
- Losing 3 games should never take a way a "day's SNG profits." 50 game minimum/day to even think about it and most would say that is too small
- Potentially profitable -- sure. Reliable stream -- only for the best and they have bad streaks that wipe out day/week profits all the time
- Keep working at it and remember to stay realistic. Your post seems to indicate you are someone that can do the former but may have issues with the latter. Good luck.

Are you saying that I should be shooting for playing 50 SNG's a day, minimum?

Yes.

Alright, cool. And how many tables at once should I work my way up to? I was comfortably three tabling 2nl and 4nl cash games. Should I start with two tabling SNG's and try to quickly add a third table asap?

Yea don't tell that to this guy who alrdy racked up 20 mil on the yr.

It is IMPOSSIBLE for a good player to lose 10+ in a row ... until it happens.