Basics of Playing Heads Up in a Tournament

  If you are lucky enough as a beginning poker player to find yourself in a heads up match after wiping out everyone else at a tournament, you'll need to understand how playing this match will differ from what you already know. You'll be up against one person and you need to prepare for that. If you make it to the heads up match - you instantly gave yourself a dramatically increased chance of winning - simply by being up against just one other person. Knowing that - it's wise to remember that you can win with any starting hand so do not be too quick to judge a hand that you typically would view as bad in other stages of tournament play.  Obviously it's time to take control by pulling out your best aggressive play. Adopting a "take-charge" attitude is the key. You won't have time to do much of anything except to be the player who controls what's going on with the betting. Consider the power of the all in bet if your cards look good.  Expect that if you or your opponent are short-stacked, the all in bet will come into play. If you are playing against a short-stacked opponent and you decide to go all in, you run the risk of inviting them to call your bet to get themselves back on track. Selectively deciding to go all in only when you have an excellent chance of winning is a smart, basic strategy for heads up play.  Try to keep your play straightforward and do not become fixated on bluffing unless you have a killer hand. With just you and the other person at the table it's usually a waste of time to try desperately to bluff. All that matters at this point in the game is that you maintain control by being aggressive.