Hold'em Tournament: Playing Heads Up Takes Nerve. Skill. Bluff
from web site
You'll never feel like you're playing Russian Roulette with Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter. You might not have a gun at your head but it's high pressure to play poker face-to-face.
This is the most important aspect of the game. If you cannot conquer it, you won't be able win your dream win like American Chris Moneymaker.
Moneymaker beat his opponents through a variety of satellite tournaments online on his way to winning in Las Vegas the World Series of Poker Main Event. In 2003, he won $3.6million when he defeated his last opponent at the final table. Moneymaker, as well as this year's winning player, was not familiar with major US tournaments. However, both Moneymaker and Hachem proved they could play the cards as well as be skilled at single combat bullying.
Heads-up is similar to a game of chicken. It's about making the most of your opponent's limited choices. Although it doesn't always work out, it's more fun when you do it.
Take the game between David Redlin and Sam interpretations of the Texas Hold 'Em champion.
Redlin was starting with an initial raise of less than 100,000 hands when Hachem went all-in with a pair of twos. Hachem called, "Double the stakes."
Redlin made a pair of tens, while Hachem got a set of tens. When the dealer paid out, Hachem's set was of better quality: 20,000 hands. Hachem stated that "I knew he was beating him" later. "He thought he would go away, so I just called."
It wasn't as if the pair of tens was an obvious all-in target, or even a high-value hand. When I played in the past, it was seldom and never a hand worth raising with. Hachem was taking a calculated risk, and the odds of him winning were only 3 to 2 chips ahead.
But it isn't always like this. There are many other factors which could have affected a player’s hand. He was out, however, indicating that the player holding a large stack probably played very hard to begin with.
These poker legends had larger-than-average bankrolls than average and large stacks. This allowed them to survive losing hands or being outdrawn. They won't have any other draws but the odds of them being outdrawn (17:1 for the first two cards and 9:1 for the final one) made it work out okay.
Both had between 5 and 6 million dollars worth of tournament chips at press time.
Many of you may be interested to know whether these two were able to make money playing poker. Both of them have made a lot of money in the poker industry, but they are not "famous" poker pros. Yes, they are indeed poker pros, but they don't quite fit the profile that many professionals have of being a big time poker player.
They can still play great poker, but that doesn't make it impossible. Both have shown that. Both have similar skills and bankrolls. They don't have a huge stash of chips. Both have roughly the same amount (although Mike Matusow is slightly wealthier).
Both seem satisfied so far with their poker skills. Mike Matusow seems more proud of his no-limit skills and I witnessed him get frustrated last night. But they still treat poker as a job and a way to make a living.
What does Mike Matusow think about being called a maniac by the media?
"It's a great thing. It's part and parcel of my poker strategy to mix things up. Everything comes to a head, at least in my case, at the $1, 500 level of blinds. You can live off your reputation as a maniac once you have it. It depends on who your opponents are. Any maniac has got to be taken down a few times before they start to feel comfortable about it."
They still play poker, obviously. Mike still plays poker. It's not the World Series of Poker, but it's still the highest level a poker player can reach.
They don't have any differences in their poker play. dragoutthevote2020.org
This is the most important aspect of the game. If you cannot conquer it, you won't be able win your dream win like American Chris Moneymaker.
Moneymaker beat his opponents through a variety of satellite tournaments online on his way to winning in Las Vegas the World Series of Poker Main Event. In 2003, he won $3.6million when he defeated his last opponent at the final table. Moneymaker, as well as this year's winning player, was not familiar with major US tournaments. However, both Moneymaker and Hachem proved they could play the cards as well as be skilled at single combat bullying.
Heads-up is similar to a game of chicken. It's about making the most of your opponent's limited choices. Although it doesn't always work out, it's more fun when you do it.
Take the game between David Redlin and Sam interpretations of the Texas Hold 'Em champion.
Redlin was starting with an initial raise of less than 100,000 hands when Hachem went all-in with a pair of twos. Hachem called, "Double the stakes."
Redlin made a pair of tens, while Hachem got a set of tens. When the dealer paid out, Hachem's set was of better quality: 20,000 hands. Hachem stated that "I knew he was beating him" later. "He thought he would go away, so I just called."
It wasn't as if the pair of tens was an obvious all-in target, or even a high-value hand. When I played in the past, it was seldom and never a hand worth raising with. Hachem was taking a calculated risk, and the odds of him winning were only 3 to 2 chips ahead.
But it isn't always like this. There are many other factors which could have affected a player’s hand. He was out, however, indicating that the player holding a large stack probably played very hard to begin with.
These poker legends had larger-than-average bankrolls than average and large stacks. This allowed them to survive losing hands or being outdrawn. They won't have any other draws but the odds of them being outdrawn (17:1 for the first two cards and 9:1 for the final one) made it work out okay.
Both had between 5 and 6 million dollars worth of tournament chips at press time.
Many of you may be interested to know whether these two were able to make money playing poker. Both of them have made a lot of money in the poker industry, but they are not "famous" poker pros. Yes, they are indeed poker pros, but they don't quite fit the profile that many professionals have of being a big time poker player.
They can still play great poker, but that doesn't make it impossible. Both have shown that. Both have similar skills and bankrolls. They don't have a huge stash of chips. Both have roughly the same amount (although Mike Matusow is slightly wealthier).
Both seem satisfied so far with their poker skills. Mike Matusow seems more proud of his no-limit skills and I witnessed him get frustrated last night. But they still treat poker as a job and a way to make a living.
What does Mike Matusow think about being called a maniac by the media?
"It's a great thing. It's part and parcel of my poker strategy to mix things up. Everything comes to a head, at least in my case, at the $1, 500 level of blinds. You can live off your reputation as a maniac once you have it. It depends on who your opponents are. Any maniac has got to be taken down a few times before they start to feel comfortable about it."
They still play poker, obviously. Mike still plays poker. It's not the World Series of Poker, but it's still the highest level a poker player can reach.
They don't have any differences in their poker play. dragoutthevote2020.org
