Playing Heads Up, Part 3:
Changing Gears

If you've been reading my previous two articles, you have a pretty good grasp of the basic concepts of heads up poker. You've modified your starting hand requirements appropriately, and you've mastered those situations where you're way ahead or way behind in the game. You've learned to spot your opponent's style of play, and know how to defeat his particular attack.

The problem is, so has he is likely to be doing the exact same thing. All the while you've been watching him, he's also been watching you. He has an idea of how aggressive you are, and what hands you're willing to call with. He has seen you play a few hands aggressively, and has seen you fold a few as well. Chances are, he's got you pegged as passive or aggressive, strong or weak, and has devised a strategy for getting the best of it from you too.

Under these circumstances, it is important to be able to change gears at the table. If you have been playing aggressively, trying to take down pots by putting the pressure on your opponent, then at some point you should switch to more passive play. If you have been playing passively, protecting your chips until you had a hand that was likely to win, you should begin playing aggressively. Changing gears disrupts your rival's defense against you. This invariably will lead to some bad reads from him, and a few stacks of chips for you, if not all the chips on the table.

Seems simple, right? But many players resist this idea. After all, if there is a "best" way to play, shouldn't you be playing that way all the time? Why would you want to change to an inferior style, just for the sake of changing? Do the Patriots all of a sudden start passing when they are doing just fine on the ground?

Well, I'm not advocating changing for the sake of change, but deception is so important in heads-up play that making a change from time to time is well worth it. What's more, you will likely find that the new style isn't inferior at all, but simply a different -- but still correct -- way to play. Surely you've heard that in many close-call situations, the correct move is either to fold (the passive play) or to raise (the aggressive play), but not to just call (somewhere in between). These situations are quite common in heads up play, and whether you do one or the other is often determined by your read of your opponent. So anything that you can do to cause your opponent to misread you will cause him to make the wrong move against you, and you can't ask for much more than that in a heads up game.

The secret is knowing when to change gears. Put very simply, you should change gears once you've established a style of play, and your opponent has begun to react to your style. Is he calling you down with a weak hand? If so, then he's onto your aggressive play, and it's time to slow down. Is he picking up pot after pot with bets and raises that you are unable to call? Well, he knows you're passive, and it's probably time to step up the testosterone level and get more aggressive. Once you've noticed that he has you pegged as a certain type of player, it is time to become a different type of player.

Finally, look for your opponent to change gears as well. If he's smart, he'll do it to you at the same time I recommend that you do it to him, but he may also decide to change gears at these times as well.

1. When he's just lost a big pot, and is questioning his strategy.
2. When he's very low on chips, and he's looking for a spot to push in.
3. When you are very low on chips, and he wants to keep the pressure on you.
4. When he has gone on tilt.
5. When he believes that you have gone on tilt.
6. When he has shown a bluff, and wants you to think he is bluffing again.

Look for these situations to trigger a change of gears from your opponent, and take advantage of his new style of play. By staying one step ahead of your opponent's attack, you put yourself in a better position to read him and avoid being read yourself. Before long, you'll have all the chips in front of you, and will be signing for first-place money instead of second.

Playing Heads Up Part 1 - The Basics , Playing Heads Up Part 2- Four Opponent Types

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