How to Play Heads-Up Poker: PREFLOP

[@bed2149]

As a serious chess player that was the first time I've seen someone use an actually good chess metaphor who isn't known for chess so thank you

[@PokerCoaching]

I played my fair share of chess as a kid.

[@eggeggs0]

i also liked the chess metaphor very helpful having studied a lot of chess and little poker

[@ryano460]

Unbelievable you still “only” have 68k subscribers, you deserve so much more! Every poker player should have heard of you.

[@PokerCoaching]

Thanks! I will keep grinding.

[@founik]

On the other hand, be glad for that. The more players who are not educating themselves, the better for those who are :)

[@trainerred6582]

He has +80k!

[@jlieberman22]

Legend, if you don't know this guy. You're not a poker player

[@ryano460]

91,5k Jonathan, keep it up! Greetings from Holland

[@tlea31]

3 bet a polarised strategy of premium pairs, suited aces, some suited broadways and the strongest offsuit aces. Bluff some lower suited kings, lower offsuit aces and small pocket pairs. Call everything in between.

[@danielgarciajulliard7560]

88+, ATo+, A9s+, A2-A5s, KJo+, KTs+, K2-K5s+, Some more broadways at fréquence and suited connectors from 67s to T9s, and some suited one gapers too

[@danielgarciajulliard7560]

I’ve seen the results and I guess I’m a bit blocker/ tournament oriented

[@Radiodragonofdoom]

Thanks for this! I hardly ever see this situation talked about and I'm always super uncomfortable HU preflop.

[@Radiodragonofdoom]

In answer to the question at 5:50: My initial thoughts are to 3 bet with roughly suited aces, suited kings, Q8s+, J7s+, K9o+, Q10o+, J10o+, 55+. Probably a few suited connectors as well.

[@son5617]

Thank you for this video! It was very informative.🙏🏻 I was struggling heads up. This video really helped me out. I will subscribe. Goodluck with your channel!

[@PokerCoaching]

Glad it was helpful!

[@iconicheight1188]

Jon, as said before, you're a good egg. Thank you for your effort and time.

[@mannion7646]

Really helpful, great info, well presented in a way that's easy to understand. Thank you and best of luck at the table my dude

[@maxcla1898]

Hyped to watch some CG hu contents ! thank you !

[@mortuc1]

Im pretty new to Poker and was just wondering who came up with These strategies? Like are they all statistically based or what exactly is behind them?

[@PokerCoaching]

They are based on Game Theory Optimal strategies.

[@mortuc1]

@@PokerCoaching ah... "TGO" makes sense now. Thx for the quick answer! Ive tried getting into Poker like 5 years ago and was watching the "EverythingPoker" series by Pokerstars to get started. Ive naturally come back to IT now. Would you say this is still up to bate and worth it? Or has the game changed too much as far as starting hands, betting and more are concerned? Thx again!

[@kellymcelree6986]

This was really great. I am enjoying the pure strategy involved with HU.

[@tlea31]

Hi Jonathan Ive played a fair bit of heads up since this video. What to do against the button open limp? I can't find many good ranges on this. It seems that all the material online assumes a 2.5x open and go from there. But in the tourneys I play, when it gets down to heads up, no one raises the button! They are very passive and just want to see a flop. If I had to guess at a solution, I would raise big (4x), but not often, to charge the in position player. I would do this with some very strong hands that can continue v a limp 3 bet (AA-TT, AKo, AK-AJs, KQs) and some junk (34s, K7o, 22). Check behind everything else. Note: there are antes in play. Cheers.

[@PokerCoaching]

Limp a lot with marginal hands, raise with a strong linear range.

[@petardodov9503]

Really good and i liked comparison with chess. Will there be a video about postflop

[@PokerCoaching]

Most likely!

[@petardodov9503]

@@PokerCoaching i hope so, i prefer watching videos about hu in poker coaching than buying Polk's expensive course 😅

[@markswanson8070]

Pocket 10s and above or suited (10,J,Q,K,A) combo cards

[@neptune8580]

I don't get why suited hands seem to be so valuable heads up, according to these charts. Why should the BB prefer 54s to, say, ATo for 3-betting? Isn't the latter a much stronger hand, especially heads up?

[@thedingodile5699]

Board coverage. If you have to play the hand every once in a while, you may as well do it those times when it's suited, as that hand is strictly better than if it's unsuited.

[@gesus.christ99]

From the bb i would frequently 3bet top down linear value (a lot of Ax, Broadway, big pairs) and a ton of suited stuffs (65s, J9s, 86s, 54s, 97s, T8s ecc..) + some off suite junky high cards at low frequency

[@MCF787]

Thank you very much... from Brazil...

[@PokerCoaching]

You are welcome!

[@johnball9734]

Hurriedly watching this now while playing heads up at the final table of a 600 person tourney for 4k. Wish me luck lol!

[@johnball9734]

Just won, thanks so much haha. Let me know if you want your cut Jonathan!

[@michaelclifford6659]

I would 3! Something close to a HJ rfi range for 6-max

[@Pumalate77]

Ooo that new intro, lovin it! Haha

[@pauliethirteen4323]

This came perfect timing for me I struggle headsup

[@powerlifting1012]

At our home game we play 200 big blinds or more heads up with .05/.10 blinds with a optional .10 cent straddles. With the option for straddler to re raise. Is it a bad idea to straddle if I feel I can bully the other person with large re raises and I balance them with suited connectors as well as premium hands

[@Slade366]

It can't be right but with such a large RFI SB range I'd feel like you should 3-bet like 50%+

[@orgabbay6497]

45sout + Any pair Kt+ A9of+ Any Ax sout

[@tomaszziomek5219]

Awesome video! Been playing a lot of heads up tournaments lately, and this definitely helps :) Just a QQ, if I understand this correctly, if BB almost never 3 bets, I should only 4-bet with value hands and also fold much more often to his 3bets?

[@BARUKWILLS]

joga HU onde meu caro? tem algum lugar melhor que pokerstar pra heads-up a dinheiro?

[@ЯрославГорбушко]

Hi Jonathan! Thank you for this guide. Sooo loose))) I'm playin 35-45 % hands on bb depending on my opponents. There are 3betting, 4betting and calling the 3bets - all this carts are SOOO looose. How shuold we play them postflop - bluff 50 % of time ? Most of time we get nothing postflop with those hands... Do you have continue ? some postflop guide especially for those preflop charts ??

[@PokerCoaching]

See PokerCoaching.com/fundamentals

[@aboxingpeach8844]

2's and 3's should not be 3-Betting that much. According to Doug Polk, "pocket 2's and 3's should basically never be 3-betting in heads up." 20% is still 1/5 of the time. Also KJo, QJo and ATo only 20% 3-Bet? Did you come up with this chart? If so where did you get the ideas for it? Or did you use a preflop simulator of some kind?

[@aboxingpeach8844]

This is actually what Piosolver says??

[@OleguitoSwagbucks]

05:40 55+ A2s+ A5o+ K9s+ K9o+ QTo+ Q9s+ JTs TY FLOPZILLA

[@ronswallow]

I guess I need to 3 bet around 50% of hands then.

[@igors7334]

I dunno where did u get this charts. I create preflop charts a lot with different rake structure and vs different opponents. Your chart isnt terrible...but calling AJo KQo look like bad game .... so I might to ask you who gives u this charts?

[@PokerCoaching]

PioSolver.

[@igors7334]

@@PokerCoaching thx for aswer. btw you missread 4bet range. at least yours looks like 6.5-7.5% gyazo.com/9ff1a70983ced5e3900b051abdb904fc

[@mothecat776]

JONATHAN. If I am on-the-button and everyone folds to me is this "SORT OF" a case of head's up (it's 3-way). If "I know the small blind will fold", let's say by a tell or he's super-tight. Can the strategy you employ be used in this situation??

[@PokerCoaching]

Just use default button strategies and widen your range a bit. There are full downloadable charts at pokercoaching.com in the Tools section.

[@JESUSandPoker]

Thx!

[@09Germ]

Thanks JL for the free heads up tables. Really appreciated. 🙏

[@alejandrosalcedo4581]

good video, it's exactly what i'm looking for, thanks.

[@PokerCoaching]

Glad I could help

[@dollar3angle366]

Great Video!!

[@mannion7646]

He called a raise with a queen ten honey

[@javierb479]

What is big rake? 14:55

[@PokerCoaching]

Depends on the game, but in cash games, something like 5bbs+ would be considered huge.

[@chesscoachgerry4140]

Thanks! How do we adjust if we have fewer BBs? For example 50 BBs or 20/25 BBs?

[@PokerCoaching]

See the charts at PokerCoaching.com in the Tools section and extrapolate.

[@chesscoachgerry4140]

@@PokerCoaching Oh nice, I havent seen that one yet! Thanks Jonathan :)

[@Eastcoastwes92]

I'd 3! with my best made hands and my worst playable hands with blocker potential, electing to call all marginal hands that flop well. May put AA/KK in calling range sometimes to mix things up

[@Eastcoastwes92]

woof - thought it should be polar raising range, turns out linear is better

[@Eastcoastwes92]

edit: polar when they fold more is good LOL

[@glaubs65]

Thanks Jonathan. Informative video. Again.

[@indigosquirrelio]

was studying the charts provided, and it looks like the btn 4 bet chart includes > 7% hands instead of the 5.1% described. also the charts say to 4 bet K9s 7% of the time, but call 96% of the time, which appears to be another inconsistency. am i understanding the charts incorrectly, or are these errors? if they are mistakes, can we find the correct charts anywhere? the HUNL charts from your website are the same.

[@PokerCoaching]

Probably a minor error. Sorry!

[@alback-00]

@@PokerCoaching sorry for the request, but how the button respond to bb 5bet? There's not in the charts :(

[@tombos211]

09:55 the 4bet range looks noisy. If you let it solve down further you'll get a more precise 4betting range.

[@aboxingpeach8844]

Also, the 3-Bet range is off for some hands. like 2's and 3's should not be 3-Betting that much for example.

[@TomRauhe]

J4o NEVER FOLDS this is old meta!

[@40yearoldvirgil15]

As a guess, I'd be 3 betting tighter than 81٪. Maybe 50%?

[@40yearoldvirgil15]

OK maybe I was wrong. Call with 50%. 3 bet with 20%.

[@ronswallow]

I was sooo wrong!

[@PokerCoaching]

Ha! Now you know!

[@pauliethirteen4323]

id be 3 betting with 18% of hands

[@swapnildeshmukh7113]

Sometimes I wonder if these kind of videos are made to make us play more frequent Hands, lose in the process and take their paid subscriptions. 🙇😅😆

[@chrisabernethy4671]

Liked purely for the cheesy hold music... XD

[@PokerCoaching]

I love cheese.