Poker Heads Up
In this lesson we’re going to run through a number of heads-up match-ups that will help give you an idea of where you stand in a variety of pre-flop situations when playing hold’em. Be aware that we’re only going to focus on individual hand match-ups. When playing hold’em it’s essential that you put your opponent on a range of hands, rather than specific holdings. However, knowing the odds of common pre-flop match-ups is a good starting point. Pick out and study what will help you. While it’s not essential that these statistics be committed to memory, it won’t hurt you if you do.
Texas Holdem Heads-Up Preflop Odds. This table was created by enumerating through every possible board and opponent hole card combination for each of the 169 texas holdem preflop starting hands. Aggression is Critical in Heads-Up Poker! Aggression is an important part of any form of poker but with heads-up it's critical. You're in the blinds every hand. If you buy-in for $200 for a $1/$2 heads-up match and fold every hand, you will lose half your stack in just 66 hands. In fact, the most common time that gameplay rule violations occur at the poker table is when I am down to heads up. This is because the rules for heads to head or one on one play in Texas Hold’em can be a bit confusing. According to heads up poker rules, the dealer posts the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. Using a Poker odds Calculator. Want to know how far ahead or behind you are in a Texas Hold’em hand against one, two or more opponents? Our poker calculator is the perfect medium for finding out the odds in any given situation. Free Poker 3 Heads Up Hold’em features software by Betsoft with no download needed and punters to choose their own virtual dealer. Adding to the excitement is the ability to place bets with the 16 different chip sizes on offer, in this animated and unique game. Pre-flop, flop, river and turn bets are offered with 3-dimentional graphics.
Let’s start by looking at hand match-ups when holding a pair:
Pair vs. Pair
The higher pair is an 80 percent favourite. We can get very technical and highlight the fact that if the underpair didn’t have any clean suits and/or the maximum number of straight outs then the high pair’s equity would increases by one or two percent.
Pair vs. Overcards
This is the classic coin flip hand that you’ll see many times late in tournaments with one player being all-in. The term coin flip indicates an even money situation which is really a 55 to 45 percent situation, as the pair is a slight favourite.
Pair vs. Undercards
In this situation the pair is normally about a 5-to-1 favourite and can vary depending on whether the two undercards are suited and/or connectors.
Pair vs. Overcard and an undercard
The pair is about a 70 percent favourite. Another example of this holding would be J-J against A-9. The underdog non-paired hand has three outs while the favourite has redraws.
Pair vs. Overcard and one of that pair
The classic example of this situation is the confrontation between a pair of cowboys and big slick. The A-K has three outs and it becomes a 70-30 percent situation or a 2.3-to-1 dog for the cowboys. This is a far cry from the next situation where even though one of the pair is matched the other card is lower.
Pair vs. Undercard and one of that pair
The non pair has to hit its undercard twice or make a straight or flush to prevail. The pair is better than a 90 percent favourite or slightly better than 10-to-1 odds. I’ll take those odds anytime.
Pair vs. Lower suited connectors
You see this match-up late in tournaments when a player is getting desperate and pushes all-in with middle suited connectors. A hand such as Q-Q against 7-6 suited would be a prime example. The pair is a strong favourite to win.
Pair vs. Higher suited connectors
Here is the real coin flip situation. A pair of eights heads-up against a suited Q-J is a fifty-fifty proposition. The higher suited cards would have an edge against a lower pair, such as 2’s or 3’s, since the board itself can sometimes destroy little pairs.
Common Pre-Flop Match-Ups (Non Pairs)
The following heads-up confrontations contain no pairs.
Two high cards vs. Two undercards
The two higher cards are usually a 65% favourite to win, but it can vary depending on whether any of the cards are suited and/or connectors.
High card, low card vs. Two middle cards
In this match-up the high card gives it the edge. But it’s only a marginal winner, approximately 57% to the hand containing the high card.
High card, middle card vs. Second highest, low card
The edge is increased by around 5% when the low card becomes the third highest card, as shown in this example, which gives approx 62% to 38% for high card/middle card combination.
High card, same card vs. Same card, low card
In this example the A-J is in a very strong position. If we discount any flush or straight possibilities, it only leaves the player holding J-8 with three outs (the three remaining 8’s).
Same high card, high kicker vs. Same card, low kicker
The high kicker gives this hand a fairly big edge. It’s very common for A-K run into A-Q, A-J, and lower, and it’s why Ace-King is such a powerful hand, particularly at the business end of no-limit hold’em tournaments when people move all-in with any sort of Ace.
Statistical Variations
For any math maniacs reading this who do not find these odds precise enough, I acknowledge that the math is rounded and for the most part does not take into account the possibilities of ties and back door straights and flushes. What players need to be equipped with is the general statistical match-up – not the fact that in the example of a pair of eights against a suited Q-J the percents are exactly 50.61 for the eights to 48.99 for the suited connectors with the balance going to potential ties. I call that a fifty-fifty proposition.
Of greater importance than quibbling over tenths of a percent is the fact that in most heads-up confrontations you can never be a prohibitive underdog. That is one reason why poker is so challenging and fun. Of course, while true, I’m not attempting to embolden the reader to ignore the odds and become a maniac. Math is the underpinning of poker and if you regularly get your money into the middle with the worst of it you will go broke.
One statistic that hasn’t been mentioned, and it’s one that I particularly like is this – the odds of both players being dealt Aces when playing heads up (one on one) is 270,724-to-1. It’s my favourite statistic because it provides me with almost total confidence when I’m playing heads up and receive pocket Aces that I’m the boss! That confident feeling lasts right up to the river when my Aces get cracked by some rotten piece of cheese which my opponent elected to play. As mentioned already, rarely are you a prohibitive underdog – so remember that to keep those losing hands in perspective.
Related Lessons
By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.
For example, what percentage of hands they play, how often they call on the flop, how much they go to showdown and much, much more.
This allows you to understand the player type you are up against, put them on a range of hands, figure out when to bet, raise and fold against them and let's you know if you can bluff them or not.
All of this information is extremely useful especially when you are multi-tabling online poker or if you play Zoom. It allows you to keep track of dozens of opponents all at the same time and get precise reads.
As a 10+ year professional poker player I believe using a good HUD is essential to your success in online poker. And the HUD that I use is also the #1 HUD used by other pros as well.
In this article I am going to reveal the best free poker HUD for 2020.
Best Free Poker HUD for 2020
Now let me start by saying that the idea of a totally free poker HUD is just silly. These are highly sophisticated programs that take years of development and an entire software team in place to create.
They also require constant software updates as online poker sites change their software. And a customer service team in place to help you with any tech issues you may have.
So if you want to find a poker HUD that is actually going to help you succeed in online poker in 2020, then there is no way that it is going to be completely free!
The best poker HUD for 2020 is PokerTracker. And it really isn't even close. This is also the poker HUD that I have personally relied on for nearly a decade now as an online poker pro.
Many people do not realize that PokerTracker actually does have a 30 day free trial version allowing you to test out the powerful capabilities of this poker tracking software and HUD.
There is a reason why PokerTracker is still by far the #1 poker HUD choice for poker pros in 2020. Here is a look at my screen while I use the PokerTracker HUD on PokerStars.
You can see how it gives me detailed information on each one of my opponents. All of these numbers refer to stuff like how many hands they play, how often they bet the flop and so on.
PokerTracker also has the most HUD stats and filters for plugging your leaks of any poker tracking program available on the market today.
Lastly, PokerTracker is the only free poker HUD out there that is available for both Mac and Windows based computers.
You can download the free trial of PokerTracker right here.
Best Free Poker HUD for 2020 - What Can PokerTracker Do For You?
As a poker pro I use PokerTracker 4 every single day both at the poker tables and away from them. Regarding the HUD, I pretty much always have this on when playing online poker.
My poker HUD allows me to always have information available on my opponents right on my poker table, such as:
- Percentage of hands that they play
- Percentage of hands that they raise with
- Percentage of the time they raise the flop
- Percentage of the time they go to showdown
And so much more. This information is absolutely invaluable in helping me form my game-plan and strategy against them at the poker tables.
For example, Player A goes to showdown too much, I don't want to bluff him. But Player B rarely goes to showdown, I want to bluff him!
And the best thing about the free PokerTracker HUD is you can set up the entire thing in less than 5 minutes. I even made a video showing you how.Bottom line, if you take online poker seriously then you should at least try using the free PokerTracker HUD and see if it helps you. For me, as a poker pro, I do not play without it.
You can download the free trial of the PokerTracker HUD right here.
What Else Can This Free Poker HUD Do?
The other thing that many people fail to realize about PokerTracker is that the best feature of it is the ability to find your own leaks at the poker table and then plug them.
For me personally, as a poker pro, this has saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the years. I also use PokerTracker to study my opponents away from the tables in order to create the best strategies to beat them.
Now how do I do all this?
Well, this is where the back-end filters inside PokerTracker help you. In order to use them just open up the Cash Filters box (or Tournament Filters box if you play tournaments), as shown below.
After that choose Actions and Opportunities and go ahead and filter for any scenario possible. For example, maybe playing Ace King in the blinds is giving you trouble?
Just filter for all hands where you played Ace King from the blinds and you will be able to see your wins and losses and replay all the hands as well.
This allows you to find out why you might be losing in this situation. You can also use the PokerTracker LeakFinder to assist you in this.
I conjunction with PokerTracker I also recommend that you start learning some advanced poker strategy so that you understand how to beat good players.
You need to know the advanced math, game theory and exploitative strategy to consistently win especially as you move up the stakes.
The #1 Poker HUD Used By Pros in 2020
Another one of my favorite things to do is study my opponents in order to create the strategies to beat them. You can just load up the My Reports tab in PokerTracker and then study their hands and run filters as well.
I often improve my own game by simply studying the best players in my games and just copying their strategies!
Look, there is absolutely no shame in this. Clearly, what they are doing is working because they are winning big. Just learn the poker strategies they are using incorporate it into your own game.
PokerTracker allows you to do all this and more. This is why it is my #1 recommended free poker HUD and tracking software for 2020 online poker games.
Lastly, the ability to keep track of all your results and even graph them as well is another great feature of PokerTracker.
And the PokerTracker 4 graph also allows you to see your red line (non-showdown winnings) as well. This is crucial in letting you know if you are bluffing too much or too little.
Once again, there is a reason why PokerTracker is consistently voted as the #1 HUD by online poker pros in 2020. This is the best poker tracking software available today.
You can download the free trial of the PokerTracker 4 HUD right here.
By the way, I should mention that while PokerTracker is my #1 recommended poker software tool (available for both Windows and Mac at the link above), it is not the only piece of poker software that I use.
For the full list of all the poker software tools that I use as an online poker pro in 2020, click here.
Final Thoughts
If you take online poker seriously then it is necessary that you use a tracking program and HUD in my opinion. There are many free poker HUDs available these days but by far the best one (and the choice of most poker pros) is PokerTracker.
If you play Zoom poker in particular (or if you multi-table), PokerTracker is by far the best HUD out there because it allows you to easily keep track of all your opponents.
I have personally been using the PokerTracker 4 HUD for nearly 10 years now as a pro since it was first released.
And the reason why is because PokerTracker 4 has the best HUD available for online poker with the most statistics that is also the easiest to setup on your poker tables.
PokerTracker also has the best back-end database and filters of any poker tracking program that I have ever seen.
This allows you to not only study your own game, find your leaks and plug them, but also to study all of your opponents in PokerTracker as well.
One of my favorite things to do is study the biggest winners in my own poker games and simply copy some of the strategies that they are using!
Bottom line, if you take online poker seriously in 2020 then you owe it to yourself to get a good poker HUD.
To download the free trial version of the PokerTracker HUD right now, click here.
Poker Heads Up Challenge
Let me know in the comments below what free poker HUD you use at the poker tables.And if you want to know the poker strategies that I use as a pro, then make sure you also pick up a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.