Strategy for Playing Heads-Up against Loose Poker Players

Heads-up poker still isn't that popular yet, but it does have a lot of advantages such as players being able to learn and adapt to their opponent. If you have determined that the player you're playing against is a loose player who is betting, raising or calling then you're going to need to adapt a new strategy to win. You will need to start playing a lot less hands against these types of opponents due to the fact you won't have a very good idea of your opponents range since they bet so often.

The best strategy when you're playing a loose poker player heads-up like this is to fold all of your garbage hands that have a slim chance of winning. You should also fold most of your marginal hands unless you can limp into the pot to see a flop. When you have a premium hand you should let your opponent bet preflop, but if they don't they you will need to make sure you do. You don't want to give them a free flop when you have a good hand and you will want to make a continuation bet no matter what comes on the flop.

Since your opponent will have noticed that you're a tight player you will be able to get away with a continuation bet a lot more often then if you're a calling station. If the continuation bet doesn't make your opponent fold then you need to make sure you have a made hand or a very good draw if you plan on betting the turn or river. If your hand is fluff then you need to shut it down after the continuation bet and move onto the next hand.

You can also open up your range post flop against loose players when you're playing heads-up because their range is also fairly broad. Often you will win the pot by calling down with top or middle pair so don't assume you need the nuts. These types of players are often not profitable and you should be able to set them up and trap them into a big pot.

Remember that you only need one big hand in order to make a nice profit when you're playing heads-up cash games so you want to play really tight against loose players. Let them steal your blind when you have garbage hands and then when you have a hand you will be able to re-raise them preflop. As long as you're winning the big pots and losing the small pots then you're doing your job in a heads-up match.

Once you have gained an image on the table as being tight you will also be able to get away with some re-raising preflop and post flop. Loose players look for betting into pots that they can steal typically so if you lead out betting then you will typically be able to take down the pot as long as you don't do it too often. Heads-up poker can be really profitable and once you have learnt how to play heads-up effectively you will find you can make a lot more playing heads-up then on a full tables.