Heads-up: every hand is a fight.
One opponent, blinds posted every hand, and nowhere to hide. Heads-up cash is the purest form of poker and the least forgiving — you play roughly 80% of your hands, position inverts between streets, and folding your way to profit is mathematically impossible. Master the wide ranges, the relentless aggression, and above all the game selection.
Two seats. That’s the whole game.
Heads-up strips poker down to its simplest shape. There is no early position, no middle position, no waiting for a good seat — every single hand you are either the small blind or the big blind. Pick the one you're sitting in and here's exactly what to do.
Raise or fold. Never limp.
You act first before the flop — but last on every street after it. That post-flop advantage is why you can profitably play almost any two cards here.
- Open-raise 2–2.5× with roughly 80% of hands.
- C-bet small (25–33%) on most flops — they missed too.
- Never limp. Every hand is a raise or a fold.
Open-raise or fold. With only one player left to act and a blind already in the middle, folding is a leak — you're raising the overwhelming majority of hands.
Defend wide. Punish the wide open.
You act last before the flop, so you get to respond — but first on every street after, which is the harder spot. Folding too much is the single most expensive habit in heads-up.
- Call wide — you're getting a great price to see a flop.
- 3-bet your strongest hands; their open range is huge.
- Don't over-fold. Folding is exactly what they're betting on.
Defend wide. You're getting a good price closing the action, and folding hands you can profitably see a flop with hands the SB free money.
Punish the wide open. Against a range that's 80% of hands, your value 3-bets get called by far worse — and you deny the SB their positional edge.
Why position flips after the flop.
If you're wondering why the small blind gets to play 81% of hands, this is the answer. In heads-up the small blind is also the button, which creates a quirk with no equivalent at a full table: whoever acts first before the flop acts last after it.
The small blind is the button. You act first pre-flop but last on every street after it — which is why the SB can profitably open such a monstrous range, and why the BB must fight back with 3-bets rather than passively calling and playing three streets out of position.
Aggression is the baseline.
When both players hold near-random hands, neither connects with most boards. The player willing to bet first collects a steady stream of pots nobody wanted. Here's the sizing framework, then the four principles that govern it.
Small opens keep your very wide range cheap to play and give the BB a poor price to 3-bet. Limping is exploitable — raise or fold.
Small and frequent. Heads-up ranges connect with the board rarely, so a cheap stab wins a huge share of pots uncontested.
Size up as their range narrows. The turn is where most HU players over-fold — a second barrel is often pure profit.
Polarize. By the river you either have it or you don't; large sizings maximize value and give bluffs the best price.
Aggression is the default, not a move
Both players miss the flop most of the time. Whoever bets first usually takes it down. Passive heads-up play loses to a thinking opponent almost automatically.
Play the player, not the chart
You face one opponent for hundreds of hands in a row. Ranges are a starting point — your real edge is spotting their specific leak and hammering it relentlessly.
Adjust before they do
Heads-up is a war of adjustment levels. Once they counter your wide stealing, tighten and value bet. When they over-defend, go back to stealing. Keep moving first.
Balance only against good players
Against a weak opponent, exploit hard and ignore balance entirely. Save mixed frequencies and protected ranges for regs who are actually paying attention.
The single biggest mistake is importing your normal ranges. A 6-max button open is about 41% of hands — heads-up demands roughly double that. Compare them side by side:
HU · SB open
Open-raise or fold. With only one player left to act and a blind already in the middle, folding is a leak — you're raising the overwhelming majority of hands.
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, A2o+, K2o+, Q2o+, J2o+, T4o+, 96o+, 86o+, 75o+, 65o, 54o
HU · BB call vs open
Defend wide. You're getting a good price closing the action, and folding hands you can profitably see a flop with hands the SB free money.
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q4s+, J6s+, T6s+, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 64s+, 53s+, A2o+, K7o+, Q9o+, JTo, T9o
HU · BB 3-bet
Punish the wide open. Against a range that's 80% of hands, your value 3-bets get called by far worse — and you deny the SB their positional edge.
66+, A9s+, KTs+, QJs, JTs, T9s, 98s, A8o+, KJo+, QJo
6-max · BTN open
For contrast: a standard 6-max button open. Heads-up demands roughly double this — the single biggest adjustment new HU players fail to make.
22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q4s+, J7s+, T7s+, 96s+, 86s+, 75s+, 64s+, 54s, A2o+, K8o+, Q9o+, J9o+, T9o
Reference ranges for 100bb play, not solver output — treat them as a starting framework and adjust hard to the opponent in front of you.
Play the player.
This is heads-up's greatest advantage: you get hundreds of consecutive hands against one person, so reads compound faster than in any other format. Identify which of these four they are, then exploit without restraint.
The Nit
How to spot themFolds to most opens, only fights back with premiums.
- Open 100% of hands and c-bet every flop.
- Give up instantly when they finally raise — they have it.
- Never bluff big; they only continue with real hands.
- Print money on uncontested pots and move on.
The Calling Station
How to spot themCalls pre-flop and post-flop far too often, rarely raises.
- Value bet thinner and larger than feels comfortable.
- Stop bluffing almost entirely — they don't fold.
- Play more suited and connected hands for implied odds.
- Let them pay off your made hands three streets deep.
The Maniac
How to spot themRaises and 3-bets relentlessly with anything.
- Tighten your opens and let them come to you.
- Call down much lighter — their range is trash-heavy.
- Trap with strong hands instead of fast-playing.
- Expect variance; the edge is real but the swings are brutal.
The Solid Reg
How to spot themBalanced ranges, adjusts to you, sizes intelligently.
- Look for one specific frequency leak and attack only that.
- Mix your own sizings so they can't read your range.
- Consider leaving — HU profit comes from game selection.
- If you can't name their leak in 200 hands, you're the fish.
Game selection is the strategy.
No format rewards choosing your opponent more than heads-up. There's no soft spot elsewhere at the table to carry you — if the person across from you is better, you lose, every session. Winning players treat seat selection as the primary skill.
Sit and wait, don't chase
Strong HU players open a table and wait for someone to sit down with them. Actively joining another regular's table is how you volunteer for a coinflip in skill.
Check before you sit
Look up anyone who sits with you. If their stats look sharp or they're a known winner, leave immediately — there's no shame in refusing a fair fight.
Quit fast, quit often
Heads-up has no obligation to continue. Two or three hands is enough to sense a competent opponent. Leaving a bad matchup is the highest-EV move in the game.
Respect the rake
With only two players covering the same rake as a full ring pot, the marginal edges shrink. You need a genuinely soft opponent to beat the rake at low stakes.
Heads-up is the most personal, most tilting format in poker.
There is nowhere to hide. Every hand is against the same person, every beat feels aimed at you, and the swings are far larger than any other format — a bad session can be dozens of buy-ins. That pressure is precisely why table selection and a deep bankroll matter more here than anywhere else: the format punishes ego faster than it punishes bad strategy.
Heads-up cheat sheet.
Everything above, distilled to what to do and what to avoid the next time you sit down one-on-one.
- Open ~80% of hands from the small blind — folding is the bigger leak.
- C-bet small and often; both of you missed the flop.
- Build a read on your single opponent and exploit it without mercy.
- Sit and wait for opponents rather than joining strong regulars.
- Keep 30–50 buy-ins — heads-up variance dwarfs 6-max.
- Don't limp the small blind — raise or fold.
- Don't import 6-max ranges; they're roughly half as wide as you need.
- Don't bluff a calling station or bet big into a nit.
- Don't keep playing a reg out of pride — leaving is a skill.
- Don't worry about balance against opponents who aren't watching.
Three habits, and heads-up stops being a coinflip.
You won't remember every range and sizing on this page. Internalise these three and the rest follows on its own.
Raise or fold — never limp.
Open around 80% from the small blind. With a blind already posted and only one player to get through, folding is the bigger leak — then c-bet small and often, because you both missed.
Play the person, not the chart.
Hundreds of hands against one opponent make reads compound fast. Value bet the station, steal from the nit, trap the maniac — and stop balancing against anyone who is not watching.
Pick the fight, protect the roll.
Let players sit with you, leave regs without ego, and keep 30–50 buy-ins. Heads-up has no soft spot elsewhere at the table, so choosing your opponent is the strategy.