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Even before online poker first appeared on the market, heads up poker was a very popular activity with players that could not find enough players to fill a table or at the end of tournaments or ring games. Heads up poker exists in two forms - as a natural end point of poker tournaments or elimination games and as a game in and of itself, with two players competing against each other using the same rules as would apply during normal ring game play.

Offline poker rooms were often not able to sponsor heads up games as the amount of rake generated from only two players did not justify reserving the table for such limited play due to overhead in the brick and mortar establishment. However, online poker sites do not have these expense and the best heads up poker sites have become well known for sponsoring this competitive and lucrative game type.

Best Heads Up Poker Site - Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker is the best heads up poker site as they offer both normal and deep stack No Limit Texas Holdem games - hundreds, in fact. There are also a variety of stakes available for players with the lowest being $0.25/$0.50. There are much higher stakes available for high rollers. In fact, the $2000/$4000 stakes allow players to take on Phil Ivey in heads up poker play.

Best Heads Up Poker Site - Absolute Poker

Absolute Poker specializes in smaller stakes heads up poker play with games for as low as $0.01/$0.02. There are also higher stakes games that extend into the $200/$400 range. Absolute Poker ranks as one of the best heads up poker sites because of their offering of heads up sit and go tournaments and tournaments available for Frequent Player Point buy ins.

Best Heads Up Poker Site - Bodog Poker

Bodog Poker offers heads up poker tournaments with buy in levels ranging from $5.00 + $0.25 to $110.00 + $6.00. In addition to normal heads up poker play, Bodog Poker also offers turbo blinds that can make heads up poker play even more intense and fast paced.

How Heads Up Poker Works

Heads up poker refers to poker play between only two people. The best heads up poker sites offer this type of game play as the entire game while other poker sites sponsor natural heads up poker play that occurs when only two players are remaining in a game or tournament. Heads up poker play can occur in any poker variety such as Texas Holdem, Omaha, Stud or Draw. As there are only two players, neither are ever safe from a blind (in games where this obligatory wager is used). Because of this, much of the play tends to open up as both players are much more likely to see a flop during each hand. This is one of the reasons that many poker players and spectators enjoy heads up poker play.

With only two players at the table, there are several other things to consider during heads up poker play. There is less of a chance that either player at the table received goods hole cards so hands of lower quality become more valuable. Many players enjoy this aspect of heads up poker because it means that you will likely be playing in every hand and bluffing post flop can become a very powerful strategy. Before the development of heads up poker games online, poker players only got to experience the game variety at the end of games when there were only two players left and both players were close to finishing top money. However, the best heads up poker sites have begun offering heads up only games where players can experience heads up poker play during the entire game.

Choosing a Heads Up Poker Site

The best heads up poker sites should offer a wide variety of standard cash games where only two players are allowed at the table. These are the most popular types of heads up poker games. These sites should also offer a variety of other heads up poker formats such as SNG games and multi table tournaments. In multi table tournaments, there are still only two players at each table but eliminating the other player at your means that you can move on to face another single opponent until there is only one player left. These heads up poker tournaments do not allow as many players as other tournament types but can still run rather long.

Heads Up Poker Strategy

One of the first things that you will find when playing heads up poker games at the best heads up poker sites is that most players will play very aggressively with a raises before and after the flop. One of the few ways to combat this is by playing aggressively yourself. Many players are tempted to sit back and wait for a good hand when facing off against an aggressive opponent. However, with only two players at the table, you will face a blind every hand and could quickly begin to see your stack shrinking until you have lost any stack size advantage over your opponent. Bluffing becomes much more successful in heads up poker play as, although your opponent might be aggressive, there is a much smaller chance that they have a powerful enough hand to keep up with your aggressive play.

However, it is very important to play close attention to how your heads up opponent responds to your play and handles various bets and raises. The best heads up poker sites include statistics and hand histories that can make this process a little easier. Always remember that your opponent will be attempting to gain some information on you as well. Follow a series of raises with a series of simple calls or checks and a few puzzling folds. Varying your play and taking advantage of position over your single opponent can help you be successful against players at the best heads up poker sites.