When playing heads up poker, there is a whole new element of physical anxiety and psychological warfare compared with multi person play. This causes physical reactions which play a role in the way that a person might react to their opponent. For this reason, a player should be in tune with what their body is going through with the constant mental strain of heads up.
One common physical response to playing heads up is an influx of anxiety. While playing heads up, there isn’t a chance to fold and take a breather while the other players play together. Instead, it is a constant battle to either retain or build on your chips. Your brain is in survival mode, and the goal is to kill your opponent before they kill you. Most players experience a rise in blood pressure or jittery nerves due to the strain of playing heads up. This is natural reaction that happens when a person is under fluctuating brain stimulus. Some people may not notice they are having this reaction, but it tends to manifest itself in some pretty gruesome ways.
Patience is one of the first things to go while playing heads up. When playing heads up in a structure that allows for plenty of time and chips, there is no reason to get frustrated and push all in with 30 big blinds. Losing patience usually happens when you have had to let go of hand after hand to your opponent. Sometimes it is frustrating when you look down at 7 3 off suit five hands in a row, you open, and are forced to fold to a re raise from your opponent. It is easy to get the mindset of, “I’m not going to let him push me around anymore,” and then move all in with some substandard hand even though you have plenty of chips to play with.
This happened recently to Nathanael Poysti in the $10,000 Heads Up Championship and the World Series 2009. He was in the third day of the heads up match against Alec Torelli. They were in the third round of the match, and Poysti had plenty of chips to play with. He started getting frustrated, as Torelli had been chipping away at him. Poysti open shoved for 75k with Q 10, which was roughly 35 big blinds. Torelli called with A J and was able to eliminate Poysti. Or rather, Poysti eliminated himself.
Understand that when playing heads up, that anxiety and frustration will occur more frequently, and make sure it doesn’t get the best of you. If you find yourself starting to feel the strain, take a few deep breaths. This will help calm your anxiety and ease some tension. Just like everything else related to poker, think it through. You might have lost 7 out of the last 10 hands, but if you have chips there isn’t a need to go into panic mode. It’s a back and forth game of trying to get inside your opponents head, not letting them get into yours.
