would be nice to get some general feedback on this topic.
some points of interest might be:

1) adjusting correctly to stacksizes
2) adjusting correctly to the size of the blinds (BB 1200 - BB 4000)
3) when to start shoving any 2
4) how to play the SB (raising a lot/limping a lot of trash hands also)
5) how to play the BB
6) standard raise size when we don't push (2-3BB?)

maybe 3) is the most important point here:
should effective stacksizes of 10BB or below be a good guideline here?

1 is all that matters. as everything else is dependent on that.

come on guys
there must be more to say on this topic

i think most important thing in winning heads up in 45mans is everything leading up to heads up, go for all the chips the whole tourney and you'll have a big chip lead most of the times you get down to your last opponent, making it easy to take him out.

there is a lot to say. but its pointless saying it as people will come in and ridicule what is said and then say a load of spew and because they have posted on here many times their view will be accepted as correct and any dissenting voices will be ridiculed. so you will end up paying attention to what they say which will by and large be wrong. but if you want to email me norwoodmatt1010@yahoo.com i would be happy to discuss heads up play in 45s with you.

LOL!!! No love at all

1-2. What matters is the smaller stack's M.

3. I am not a fan of ATC. When effective stacks get ridiculously small and if villain has a very tight range; however villain needs one hand to adjust and that time you re ****ed.

4. You have the odds to limp ATC unless villain keeps reraising in which case, fold more of your hands raise/shove rest.

5. You want a swift end to the action as you have no position. Check or reraise.

6. What is always your standard raise, perhaps smaller.

with all due respect almost everything said in the last post is wrong. when your stack gets really short is the worst time to push ATC as you have no FE.

also the standard raise size is different from the sb and the bb and also differs depending on whether you are calling a rr all in. and differs depending on whether you are calling/shoving any flop or not. and often being in the bb is an advantage not a disadvantage in a raised pot pre flop.

basically i realised a while ago that i feel sorry for anyone reading advice that is given and thinking it has many merit when mostly it doesnt. the best thing you can do is only take advice from people you know are big winning players at the games you are playing and you know arent levelling you. in fact the best thing to do is just go to sharkscope leaderboards or opr rankings and watch how some of the better players play heads up in 45s.

as there is a lot of skill in heads up 45s and if you play them well you will have at least a 60/40 edge when you start with equal chips and probably more like 65/35. of course there is a way for your opponents to play which will reduce your edge to <60% but noone ever really plays that way.

HU is so dependant vs your opponent. Your worst matchup would be a very aggro opponent who, even if he is a terrible donk, just shoves and shows aggression shoving pre lowering your edge. Your best matchup would be a passive opponent who plays way too tight and straightforward.

Vs aggro, learn the nash HU chart and try to exploit the wide shoves.
Vs passive, try different things like limping button c-bet flop. or seeing how he reacts to min raises, 2.5x raises, or 3x raises. or donk betting min and stuff. This is mostly for 800/1600 or 1k/2k HU. Once it gets to 1.5k/3k, know your shove fold.

yeah i've often heard about that chart and would like to have a closer look at it
maybe someone has a link for me?

Driskill

Then first thing I look for is the tendency of the villian. I find they almost alway fall into 3 categories:

1. Folds waaaaaaaay too much. I'm shoving very wide against these guys especially once blinds get to 1500/3000

2. Never folds. Ie the type that you can value shove Kx into at 1000/2000

3. The semi competent people. I am raising a lot of 2.2-2.4x from the button and either checking or rring out of the bb until the blinds make it a shove or fold match

PM or email me if you want to talk specifics/ hhs etc

bd

+1 best advice on this thread.

I use the HEM stat "open % SB" as one of my visible stats which can really help with calling.

Why the superior tone? Should anyone's ego be at stake in this forum? Anyway:

The post above yours cited -effective- stacks, not simply one's own. Vs. a tight-ranged villain, it is often correct to shove ATC from the SB when you cover him many times over. The worst odds available in any hand-to-hand match-up become insignificant when his doubling up won't significantly change his chance of winning the tournament due to shortness. His "comfortable" calling range is worthlessly tiny, and, for some villains, adopting a more reasonable calling range is too terrifying. If villain shoves over every limp/raise and open-shoves every SB, a few folds on your part will double him up anyway, which makes it totally ridiculous strategy if that's your intent. If it's not, you're effectively shoving ATC, no? The only difference is that you're getting fancier. If you're frequently raise/folding and complete/folding into a tiny stack HU, you are not playing well. So how is uselessly going through the motions better?

When we're the shorty, same goes. Waiting for a better spot can often mean a 50% reduction of our stack vs. an aggressive villain, and if we get to the flop, we'll never be able to divine true strength from a villain that can afford to be maximally aggressive at all times. An ATC shove strat becomes at these times effective, or, at worst, not significantly worse than other strategies. Others may look fancier, but they wind up in the same place very quickly.

As for raise sizing, sticking with a standard is best. It plays to common villain insecurity with heads up play. If you vary your sizes, after a few flop reactions or some basic math, villain knows (or thinks he does) more about what your bets mean than otherwise. Not good. Balancing ranges doesn't work well in the short time of HU anyway, beyond occasional rote inducement against spazzy villains--there's rarely time to implement some elaborate deception PF.

The ideal way to play HU in my view is to learn the situations in which your opponent will commit himself without letting him know the same of you. That way you can identify how far to push your big hands and (semi) bluffs while he will be full of uncertainty. Keeping in mind stack sizes and other factors, this general mantra gives me the best results (far more firsts than seconds).

lol @ norwoodmatt

i thought he wasn't going to post here anymore?

qft can people stop quoting this guy pls.

if stacks >15bb i generally minraise with polarised range and shove the unexploitable stuff.

however most of the timeevry1 nits it up so u can bascially shove top 80% otb.

While one may not want to push any two cards against any opponent, I think a range of ATC with small stacks HU is at worst a small mistake.

Here are two points I find useful for HU play when effective stacks are 10 BB:

1. The equilibrium ranges for both players are about 60% SB pushes and 40% BB calls. Given that few players (especially in the small stakes tournaments) will be that loose, a range tighter than 60% (which is a range along the lines of any pair, Q, K, A or any two cards 7 or higher) is costing money.

2. If villain will call a push less than 33% of the time, pushing ATC is profitable.

Besides, it's not a big disaster if you push ATC and someone calls light. You'll have 30-40% equity most of the time.

pushing wide is fine it just means you wont achieve a 60/40 edge or greater. you will struggle to get much more than 55/45. sometimes you make the techically incorrect play as you know that villains only chance is winning races. and in 45s HU there is usually time to play a bit. certainly more so than 18s. it only takes 4-5 hands to figure your opponent out. you still want to play flops. as people dont understand a good hand on flop HU but they are starting to understand a good hand pre flop. i mean say you have 40k and they have $27k and blinds are $1.5k/$3k. if u get dealt a hand like j7 technically you can push but do you really want to. you have better chance just raising or completing from sb and just calling or checking in bb. as you are going to have a big advantage on the flop. and it doesnt matter that there is only room for one bet or whatever as you will value your hand better than villain.

just because they have an m of <5 doesnt make pushing wide the best way of maximising your edge. my most common finishing positions by far in 45s is 1st so i know how to play HU. and shoving wide into the short stack just eliminates most of your edge.

Punctuation? Capital Letters?

sorry i didnt realise i was sitting an english exam i thought i was showing people how to play heads up at 45s

If only.

[ ] norwoodmatt is a man of his word.

[x] he went away for a little bit so the grudge match with youcanhaveitall would be forgotten.

no i stand by what i said both on the boards and in the PM he shared with the boards. i stand by that 100%. and i am still happy to challenge him at 9s-180s over 1000 games he knows that.

http://sngwiz.com/

just get your shoveranges right with <15bb, with more then 15bb it's possible to do cool stuff like limping and minraising

then you are a fool