Hey guys, I recognize that you need to play the player, not the hand, but I need a starting point, at least to understand what type of line would be a "standard" line that you adjust based upon your opponent.

Im basically looking for a HU thread similar to this 6 max thread.

I looked thru the stickied threads and did not find anything. I found some SNG strategies, but I am looking for cash games, not SNG. Any help would be much appreciated.

Join DeucesCracked and watch Prinnyraiding1 and dogisheadsup.

Both are exactly what you're looking for.

im not really good enough to warrant investing money into my poker game. also, it seems like PF strategy is something more easily looked at written down.

DC has a one week free trial. Just register a credit card and unregister it at the end of the week. In that time you could download both and there's no DRM so you could keep it.

Then if you're happy with the material you could sub to DC by month/6 months/ year

ah, i see. Ok, maybe ill pick it up for the week then.

Standard p.flop strat - raise.

fyp

yeah...

then i get 3B holding like J8s and im like "IDK WTF."

raise again

tried it. 50 dollars down zomg.

(I actually did raise every hand from the button. he was a folding station. won the first 20 hands or something. then he called and I bluffed all the way to the river. turns out he hit a flush. im awesome at pokerzors.)

my early standard is to steal 100%, call 25% 3bet 15%. cbet nearly every flop
the more early the tighter my call and 3b from bb

as the game goes id start to gradually decrease or increase my prf range and start checking back more flops

i had the same question as OP did a week or 2 ago when i started HU. didn't get any clear answer, mainly because there isn't one. TBH i just played and taught (and still am teaching) myself.

play a few thousand hands, make observations of your game and opponents', learn from mistakes, see what works what doesn't etc etc. Guarantee you'll be a lot better/feel more comfortable after u play for a bit

ok. So basically a good starting strategy is OOP I 3B with the hands I normally raise with in 6 max, and I call with mediocre hands.

IP it seems like raising with everything is very exploitable, they could 3B me with like 35% of their range, no?

I really have no idea how to respond to 3Bs IP. im basically 4 betting with 99+, AJ+, calling with Ax, any two broadways, suited connectors, 44-88...

It's going to be way cheaper and money well spent in investing a training site than trying to find out things on your own or searching some old threads.

someone 3-betting 35% is easy to exploit. Raising every Btn is standard for the most part.

you are going to need to raise pre a lot, cbet a lot, double barrel a lot, c/r a lot of flops, spew into some rivers depending on board texture and reads, sometimes fold A10 to a three bet and sometimes get it all in pre for value. this is why HU is so interesting

glgl

been pretty fun so far. im gonna stick to bumhunting until I get used to it though :P

I'm assuming your post-flop game is okay (as in, you're not ******ed)

Just raise like 80% from the BTN to be safe. No need to play total junk. Against people that 3bet a lot I open less. Against people that 3bet little, I open more. Against people that call too much and are passive post-flop, I open more. Against people that call too much but are aggressive post-flop, I stay about the same.

Don't get sucked into calling 3bets with SC and stuff when you're 100bb deep. If they rarely 3bet, you can basically fold every time. If they 3bet a ton, then stop opening your junk. Start widening your 3bet calling range. If they do it a reasonable amount, figure out what they're doing with small pocket pairs, suited connectors and weak broadway sorts of hands in order to make their 3bet frequency so high. Once you know what they're 3betting with, you can give them very narrow ranges post-flop in most cases, because they'll play their premiums, small pairs, high connectors and low connectors differently. Rarely will they 3bet total junk like J4o, but if they do, then obviously wait for a good dominating hand and stack em.

When considering 4betting, figure out if they call 4bets or fold to them (when they aren't 5betting, that is) They will often start out folding to 4bets but when you do it enough, they'll start calling (possibly 5bet bluffing, but dw about that) more. If they call a lot, don't 4bet bluff, but 4bet for value a bit wider (and rape them when they flat your 4bet with 67s 100bb deep). If they are more fit-or-fold to your 4bets, then polarize your 4betting range between premium hands and bluffs. Don't waste your KQ on those types. Obviously, adjust the premium:bluff ratio depending on how often they 5bet/fold.


You can basically figure out what to do and how to adjust in the BB by following everything written above, but swapping it around.

However, you can do pretty well by keeping a static range of hands you VPIP with. What you'll mostly be doing is changing the actions you'll take with the same hands.

Obviously, 3bet your best hands.

You can decide whether to 3bet or call with low SC, high SC and low broadways depending on how they react. A good, tight, static range of hands you'll be continuing on with in some shape or form is something like:

All pocket pairs
A7o+
K8o+
Q9o+
J9o+

When your are suited, play all aces. With other cards, lowering the kicker 1 or 2 spots is OK. All cards connected are also fine as well.

Obviously, don't be a robot. You can call offsuit connectors if you god damn feel like it or suited 2 gappers. It really doesn't matter too much. It's more about how you play them. So, for example, if a dude just open raises every hand and always calls 3bets, don't worry about 3betting a balanced range. Just put money in with good high cards.

Also, a ton of idiots just limp preflop. You can pretty much use the static range I was talking about before to decide whether to check or raise them, but a bit tighter is probably good.


EDIT:
I wouldn't recommend bum hunting. Everybody sucks. You'd be surprised how often you go PTR a dude and he's a winning player over a large sample and then he is just ****ing terrible. Obviously, if you are hugely outmatched, then quit but there is just no reason to "bumhunt" the low stakes. You need to be challenged to get better, anyway.

I think with less experience postflop raising 70-80% BTNs might be best for you(fold the complete trash).

Best advice for you so far op.

Just variance. Keep shoving!

Just to know because I too have a lot of troubles with 3bets. Your early standard of 15% does contain bluffs or is it simply the top 15% ?

Man, you know, im a very math oriented guy. Even before ever reading forums, I was always happy whenever I got my money in good, very rarely go on tilt. But jesus christ, HUNL makes me so tilty.

I feel like I am a better player than the people I am playing, yet I always look up and have less money than them. and never seeing the cards makes me have no idea how well or terribly I am playing... And then when all the money goes into the pot, I see how the hand played out, and I want to punch a hole thru the wall...


Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter By DeucesCracked Poker Videos

BB: $27.05
Hero (BTN/SB): $31.10

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Q
Hero raises to $1.50, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.00) 9 2 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.50, BB calls $1.50

Turn: ($6.00) T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $4.50, BB raises to $9, Hero calls $4.50

River: ($24.00) T (2 players)
BB bets $15.05 all in, Hero calls $15.05

Final Pot: $54.10
BB shows Q T (three of a kind, Tens)
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Tens)
BB wins $53.60
(Rake: $0.50)

Ive played 1162 hands, none against players I think are any good, and I am down 92 dollars, my EV line is closer to down 35ish.

the game is tough to learn. id say the toughest part is figuring out if your folds are good.

Also, aces vs muck, very helpful, thanks so much. Ill make sure to try it out. Im going to take a few days off and try to get my head in the game in the right mindset. Gotta accept that there are big swings.