What is Heads Up?

Heads-up means only two players are contesting the pot — the defining situation at the end of a tournament and in dedicated heads-up cash games. Strategy diverges sharply from full-ring play: starting-hand ranges widen enormously, aggression rises, and position changes every single hand, because the player on the button posts the small blind and acts first before the flop, last after it. Worked example: heads-up, the button/small blind might open-raise or limp something like 70-90% of all hands, against perhaps a 12-15% range from under the gun at a nine-handed table. Folding the big blind too readily is punished mercilessly, since a relentless opponent will attack it every hand and blind you down without a fight. Heads-up play matters because it is a distinct skill that decides tournaments — the last two players are heads-up for the title — and rewards those comfortable with wide ranges and constant pressure. The common mistake is importing tight full-ring ranges into a heads-up match and getting ground down by the blinds. Note too that heads-up itself is winner-takes-the-difference between the top two prizes, but the run-up to it is shaped by ICM at the final table. See also the Big Blind, the Small Blind, ICM, the Chip Leader and GTO.