Heads-Up at the Final Table

Last night I won an online poker tournament and took down a very nice cash for my efforts. It was grueling as usual once we got to the money and things didn't look good at times but I was able to survive and eventually overcome a couple of set backs at the Final Table. Once we got down to the last three players I had successfully built my stack to become second in chips with only four players left.

The thing that I noticed about the chip leader is that he never changed gears. He did the exact same thing each and every time he was involved in a hand even before he became chip leader. I was confident that it would be him and I going at it Heads-Up and I was prepared for the challenge. After a couple of more hands he busted the third player and he had a three to one chip lead on me. The blinds were manageable and I still had plenty of chips so I wasn't overly concerned.

Many players try to devise a strategy for playing Heads-Up and that is their first mistake. Until you understand what your opponent is trying to do to you it is impossible to determine the optimum strategy to counter. Knowing that my opponent was going to min raise and then make a three times bet each and every hand he was involved in was like handing over the keys to his home. I simply waited on good hands and allowed him to win all of the small pots. I realized early on that any time I had a hand I was going to get paid off because he simply would not fold.

After three hands I doubled up after flopping a flush and he had hit top pair. Now, I was almost even in chips and salivating at the opportunity that was available due to his reckless aggression. I quickly finished him off when I hit two pair and again he hit top pair. There was a flush draw on the board and he pushed and I called. No help on the turn or river and the winner is yours truly.

The moral of the story is to be patient at the Final Table because most likely you are not going to win it all in one hand. Allow your opponent to show you what his strategy is and counter it accordingly. Had I been trying to run him over with any Ace or small pairs he would have easily booted me from the tournament with very little effort. By waiting and playing tight while allowing him to THINK that he was the aggressor I was easily able to trap and eliminate my opponent in short order.