Heads-up is the culmination of your efforts to become a good poker player. If you are in a heads-up situation it means that you have defeated all but one of the players in the tournament, your heads-up opponent.
It takes a lot of practice and constant improvement in your poker skills before you are good enough to be among the top two players in a tournament.
The basic tactic for successful heads-up is to dominate the other player by calling and setting the tone when betting.
On the other hand, you can be sure that your opponent will dominate you. This means you will never know exactly when to bet.
Don’t be afraid to use all-in in a heads-up game. If you run out of chips and try to get back into the game with an all-in bet, you will be called very often as your opponent sees the opportunity to win the game on the spot. This is why you need to be sure that your chances of winning are high before you go all-in.
However, if you are winning and your opponent is running low on chips, you should only move all-in if your hand promises a real chance of winning. Because it could tempt your opponent to call your bet as he sees this as an opportunity to get back into the game.
In a heads-up game, you should be careful with bluffing because again, your opponent could call your bet and if you have a weak hand you are out of the game.
In a ‘heads up’ scenario, all of the basic poker rules you know take on a whole new meaning, since there are only two players involved.
Since you only have one opponent, your chances of winning increase enormously. You can win with ANY starting hand, even hands that you would not have played in the previous rounds of the tournament.