Poker’s simplest variant contains just the right balance of skill, strategy and luck to keep the internet poker players hooked, and beginners gagging for more. Learn the Basic Rules of Texas Holdem From a full deck (52 cards), players are dealt two, face down ‘hole cards’. Between two (heads up) and ten (full ring) players can play. Heads-Up Rules for Texas Hold’em Poker. Heads up Texas Holdem is one of the most fun, challenging and misunderstood variations of holdem. The thrill of playing a friend or foe in a battle of heads up holdem is unmatched in all of poker. Heads-Up Rules for Texas Hold’em Poker. Heads up Texas Holdem is one of the most fun, challenging and misunderstood variations of holdem. The thrill of playing a friend or foe in a battle of heads up holdem is unmatched in all of poker. Just like Texas Hold’em, Heads-Up Hold’em™ uses a regular 52-card deck of cards. To begin the hand, players must place two equal bets: one ante bet and one odds bet. As well as this, players have the choice to place up to two optional side bets. These are called Trips Plus and Pocket Bonus. For example, let’s say that you want to play in a $1,000 buy-in Texas Hold’em poker tournament. However, you don’t want to spend $1,000 to play in this tournament. Casinos and online poker rooms will offer feeder tournaments that allow players the option to win entry into these higher buy-in tournaments.

• Texas Holdem Poker Heads Up Rules 2019
• Texas Holdem Rules Simple

In most no-limit hold’em tournaments or cash games, if players are following typically sound preflop strategy and are selective with their starting hand selection, the majority of hands will be heads-up after the flop. A player will raise, another will call, and often just two are still around in the hand to see those first three community cards.

As a result most no-limit hold’em strategy regarding postflop play tends to focus on heads-up situations, since they occur more frequently than do multi-way pots with three or more players still involved after the flop. But there are certain contexts where multi-way pots will occur more often, such as in lower-stakes cash games, daily tournaments with inexpensive buy-ins, or even in higher buy-in games where the table happens to have a lot of players playing passively preflop.

Since multi-way pots do sometimes arise, it’s worth keeping in mind key strategic differences between dealing with several opponents as opposed to just one. Here are five of them — one from before the flop, and the others having to do with postflop play. The general theme running through all five items is how certain “creative” or less direct plays that you might try versus a single opponent may be less attractive when up against two or more opponents.

1. Starting hand selection in multi-way pots

As noted, preflop play more often results in heads-up situations after the flop. But sometimes you find things developing before the flop in a way that suggests you might get to see a flop with a group of players, such as when many have limped in before you, or when playing from the big blind and you can close the action by calling a raise that has gotten a few callers.

In multi-way pots, non-premium “big card” hands like or can create some headaches for you after the flop. While flopping the nut straight with such hands is nice, that is much less likely to happen than flopping a pair which can make things tricky to negotiate against several others. Holding and seeing a flop come with three other players in the hand can subsequently put you in an awkward spot, especially if others show interest with bets and raises going forward.

By contrast hands like suited connectors, suited aces, and small pocket pairs can play well against multiple opponents. Flopping a set with your small pocket pair is always an encouraging situation, while flopping a big draw and then pursuing it with favorable pot odds can be profitable as well. Think of being in a four-way hand and holding rather than when that flop comes .

2. Bluff and semi-bluff less often multi-way

Moving over to postflop, keep in mind that against more than one opponent, the need to make a hand obviously increases. A consequence of this is that it becomes more difficult to win without making such hands, and so generally speaking you should be less eager to bluff.

In situations where you were the preflop aggressor and get several callers, even a simple continuation bet may need to be avoided if you have missed the flop. Say you raise from late position with and get three callers, then are checked to following a flop. Against a single opponent the c-bet is probably in order, but against three opponents you might well be throwing away money with what is essentially a bluff versus a crowd.

Take another situation, say, where you flop a nut-flush draw when playing from the blinds with a suited ace. Heads-up you might lead or check-raise as a semi-bluff, but against multiple opponents you probably need to be more straightforward, check-calling instead.

3. Avoid slow playing versus multiple opponents

Slow playing represents another non-straightforward move that might work well heads-up, but against several players can be a recipe for disaster.

Say you have and a flop comes . Slow playing against a single opponent here (checking and/or calling with your set) can be risky, but potentially profitable. But against several opponents you open the door to big problems not betting or raising this flop, potentially allowing many draws (or backdoor draws) see a turn card cheaply.

When heads-up you can often narrow your opponent’s range in situations like this based on preflop play and previous reads, allowing you to assess whether just checking and/or calling with your bottom set might be the best way to extract the most value. But against multiple opponents slow playing — like other “fancy” or non-straightforward plays — is rarely warranted.

4. Don’t check-raise, make blocking bets, or float multi-way

Speaking of “fancy” plays, others like check-raising, making small blocking bets, or floating (i.e., calling with an intention to bluff on a later street) are also moves best set aside in the multi-way situation.

A check-raise can sometimes work, actually, to clear a field of opponents seemingly weak after the flop. Say you’re in the blinds, a preflop raiser in early position makes what various factors suggest to you is a less than confident continuation bet, and a couple of players call who also seem obviously on draws or with relatively weak holdings. A check-raise looks very strong here (whether for value or as a bluff), and sometimes the dynamic of having multiple opponents all worried about each other in such a spot can elicit folds all around.

But that’s a relatively rare scenario. Especially with a genuinely strong hand you’ll more likely want to bet now, not check and hope to be able to check-raise later.

5. Be mindful of better pot odds multi-way

When talking about starting hand selection above, it was noted how pot odds improve in multi-way pots, which can make suited connectors and small pairs attractive to play. With more players involved, pots are necessarily bigger, which often will make for some inviting pot odds after flopping draws.

There’s also an increased chance you’ll have better implied pot odds, too. With more opponents involved, if you make an especially strong hand (e.g., a set, a straight, a flush, or better), the chances go up that someone else will make a strong second-best hand and be willing to pay you off.

Conclusion

Considering the difference between heads-up versus multi-way pots, it’s a little like the difference between talking to one person or lecturing to a large group.

With one person you can be more subtle, perhaps joking around more and being less direct. You can also get a good idea how that person is hearing and interpreting what your saying, which helps you figure out how best to communicate as the conversation continues. But with a group you have to be clear and straightforward, sometimes keeping things on a general level so a wider audience can understand you. With a big group, it’s also harder to account for all of the different reactions you might evoke.

Similarly with multi-way pots it is usually better to avoid non-straightforward postflop plays, or at least remain aware they are often more risky to try than when heads-up. Meanwhile before the flop you can take chances getting in there with good drawing hands or small pairs that can reap big rewards in multi-way pots.

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  tournament strategycash game strategyno-limit hold’emstarting hand selectionbluffingsemi-bluffingcheck-raisingblocking betfloatpot oddsimplied pot odds

Introduction

Heads Up Hold 'Em is an Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em variant by Galaxy Gaming, based on Texas Hold 'Em. The player may raise his bet one time, and has three opportunities to do so. The earlier he raises, the more he can bet. The main differences between Heads Up Hold 'Em and Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em are in the former the player may raise only 3x his Ante bet before the flop, but the game includes bad beat bonuses for losing with a straight or higher.

Rules

Following are the rules for Heads Up Hold 'Em. For those used to the terminology in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, what is called the Blind there called the Odds bet here.

1. The game is played with a single ordinary 52-card deck.
2. The player must make an equal bet on both the Ante and Odds.
3. Two cards are dealt face down to the player and dealer. The player may look at his own cards.
4. The player can check or make a Play bet equal to three times the Ante.
5. The dealer turns over three community cards.
6. If the player previously checked, then he may make a Play bet equal to two times his Ante or check again. If the player already made a Play bet, then he may not bet further.
7. Two final community cards are turned over.
8. If the player previously checked twice, then he must either make a Play bet equal to exactly his Ante, or fold, losing both his Ante and Odds bets. If the player already raised he may not bet further.
9. The player and dealer will both make the best possible hand using any combination of their own two cards and the five community cards.
10. The dealer will need at least a pair to open.
11. The following table shows how the Ante, Odds, and Play bets are scored, according to who wins, and whether the dealer opens.
    

    Scoring Rules

    Winner	Dealer Opens	Ante	Play	Odds
    Player	Yes	Win	Win	See rule 12
    Player	No	Push	Win	See rule 12
    Dealer	Yes	Lose	Lose	See rule 12
    Dealer	No	Push	Lose	Lose
    Tie	Yes or No	Push	Push	Push

12. Winning Ante and Play bets pay 1 to 1. Winning Odds bets pay according to value of the hand and whether it wins or loses. The following pay table shows what winning Odds bets pay.
    

    Winning Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pays
    Royal Flush	500
    Straight Flush	50
    Quads	10
    Full House	3
    Flush	1.5
    Straight	1
    All Other	Push

    Galaxy Gaming, the game owner, has four different pay tables for losing blind bets, as follows.

    Losing Odds Bet Pay Table

    Hand	Pay Table
    	1	2	3	4
    Straight Flush	500	500	500	500
    Quads	50	50	50	25
    Full House	10	10	10	6
    Flush	8	6	5	5
    Straight	5	5	4	4
    All Other	Loss	Loss	Loss	Loss

13. In addition, there are two side bets, that pay based on the player's cards only, the Trips Plus and Pocket Bonus. These side bets are explained after the analysis of the base game.

Strategy

The player should make the 3X raise with any pair except deuces. Otherwise, use the following table shows when to make the large 3X raise.

The strategy for the medium and small raise are the same as in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, as follows:

Medium Raise: Make the 2X raise with any of the following:

• Two pair or better.
• Hidden pair*, except pocket deuces.
• Four to a flush including a hidden 10 or better to that flush

* Hidden pair = Any pair with at least one card in your hole cards (thus the pair is hidden to the dealer).

Texas Holdem Poker Heads Up Rules 2019

Small Raise: Make the 1X raise with any of the following, otherwise fold:

• Hidden pair or better.
• Less than 21 dealer outs beat you.

For a more powerful small and medium raise strategy, I recommend the James Grossjean strategy card for Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em.

Texas Holdem Rules Simple

Analysis

The following table shows all possible outcomes of each hand, what it pays, the probability, and contribution to the return under the losing Odds bet pay table number 1 (the one that goes 500-50-10-8-5). The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.36%.

Return TableExpand

Player	Raise	Dealer Qualifies	Winner	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Fold				-2	5,498,078,560,920	0.197674	-0.395349
Less than pair	1	No	Dealer	-2	60,518,663,424	0.002176	-0.004352
Straight flush	1	Yes	Dealer	498	20,279,100	0.000001	0.000363
Four of a kind	1	Yes	Dealer	48	1,726,735,980	0.000062	0.002980
Full house	1	Yes	Dealer	8	10,082,720,220	0.000363	0.002900
Flush	1	Yes	Dealer	6	49,072,032,216	0.001764	0.010586
Straight	1	Yes	Dealer	3	47,952,010,720	0.001724	0.005172
Less than straight	1	Yes	Dealer	-3	3,006,630,550,164	0.108098	-0.324295
Anything	1	Y/N	Push	0	455,081,939,824	0.016362	0.000000
Royal flush	1	No	Player	501	6,914,880	0.000000	0.000125
Straight flush	1	No	Player	51	279,004,320	0.000010	0.000512
Four of a kind	1	No	Player	11	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	1	No	Player	4	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	1	No	Player	2.5	43,096,215,600	0.001549	0.003874
Straight	1	No	Player	2	145,034,240,580	0.005214	0.010429
Less than straight	1	No	Player	1	816,981,676,824	0.029373	0.029373
Royal flush	1	Yes	Player	502	46,580,760	0.000002	0.000841
Straight flush	1	Yes	Player	52	2,023,968,588	0.000073	0.003784
Four of a kind	1	Yes	Player	12	964,337,328	0.000035	0.000416
Full house	1	Yes	Player	5	46,108,374,192	0.001658	0.008289
Flush	1	Yes	Player	3.5	202,016,746,236	0.007263	0.025421
Straight	1	Yes	Player	3	421,268,280,080	0.015146	0.045438
Less than straight	1	Yes	Player	2	1,600,861,520,204	0.057556	0.115113
Less than pair	2	No	Dealer	-3	11,023,268,784	0.000396	-0.001189
Straight flush	2	Yes	Dealer	497	16,724,460	0.000001	0.000299
Four of a kind	2	Yes	Dealer	47	311,575,460	0.000011	0.000527
Full house	2	Yes	Dealer	7	18,705,932,580	0.000673	0.004708
Flush	2	Yes	Dealer	5	27,615,003,664	0.000993	0.004964
Straight	2	Yes	Dealer	2	21,031,977,440	0.000756	0.001512
Less than straight	2	Yes	Dealer	-4	1,979,644,169,384	0.071175	-0.284699
Anything	2	Y/N	Push	0	214,144,135,720	0.007699	0.000000
Royal flush	2	No	Player	502	11,938,680	0.000000	0.000215
Straight flush	2	No	Player	52	397,598,400	0.000014	0.000743
Four of a kind	2	No	Player	12	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	2	No	Player	5	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	2	No	Player	3.5	45,718,738,920	0.001644	0.005753
Straight	2	No	Player	3	53,068,201,380	0.001908	0.005724
Less than straight	2	No	Player	2	1,207,385,216,712	0.043410	0.086819
Royal flush	2	Yes	Player	503	147,692,880	0.000005	0.002671
Straight flush	2	Yes	Player	53	3,016,851,612	0.000108	0.005749
Four of a kind	2	Yes	Player	13	20,440,911,312	0.000735	0.009554
Full house	2	Yes	Player	6	320,575,227,408	0.011526	0.069155
Flush	2	Yes	Player	4.5	183,447,763,404	0.006596	0.029680
Straight	2	Yes	Player	4	158,035,798,360	0.005682	0.022728
Less than straight	2	Yes	Dealer	3	2,415,318,761,280	0.086839	0.260516
Less than pair	3	No	Dealer	-4	66,873,993,600	0.002404	-0.009617
Straight flush	3	Yes	Dealer	496	14,499,400	0.000001	0.000259
Four of a kind	3	Yes	Dealer	46	316,891,120	0.000011	0.000524
Full house	3	Yes	Dealer	6	13,387,474,080	0.000481	0.002888
Flush	3	Yes	Dealer	4	20,484,007,080	0.000736	0.002946
Straight	3	Yes	Dealer	1	22,371,396,720	0.000804	0.000804
Less than straight	3	Yes	Dealer	-5	3,136,124,565,400	0.112754	-0.563771
Anything	3	Y/N	Push	0	223,641,379,520	0.008041	0.000000
Royal flush	3	No	Player	503	86,472,360	0.000003	0.001564
Straight flush	3	No	Player	53	180,911,880	0.000007	0.000345
Four of a kind	3	No	Player	13	-	0.000000	0.000000
Full house	3	No	Player	6	-	0.000000	0.000000
Flush	3	No	Player	4.5	41,791,833,360	0.001503	0.006762
Straight	3	No	Player	4	64,386,219,840	0.002315	0.009260
Less than straight	3	No	Player	3	1,317,173,128,560	0.047357	0.142070
Royal flush	3	Yes	Player	504	556,552,440	0.000020	0.010085
Straight flush	3	Yes	Player	54	1,444,036,640	0.000052	0.002804
Four of a kind	3	Yes	Player	14	21,003,399,360	0.000755	0.010572
Full house	3	Yes	Player	7	261,421,403,040	0.009399	0.065793
Flush	3	Yes	Player	5.5	199,160,655,360	0.007160	0.039383
Straight	3	Yes	Player	5	195,058,020,480	0.007013	0.035065
Less than straight	3	Yes	Player	4	3,140,424,343,760	0.112909	0.451635
Total					27,813,810,024,000	1.000000	-0.023584

As shown in the lower right cell, the house edge is 2.36%. This is the expected loss to the Ante wager only. For example, if the player bets $5 on both the Ante and Odds, then his expected loss would be $5 × 0.023584 = 11.79¢.

The average final wager per hand is 3.67 units. That makes the element of risk 2.36%/3.67 = 0.64%. This means for every dollar you wager in the game, on anything, other than the side bets, you can expect to lose 0.64¢.

By comparison, the element of risk in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em is 0.53%.

The standard deviation, relative to to the Ante bet, is 4.56.

The next table shows the house edge and element of risk under all four losing Odds bet pay tables according to the pay table for a losing Odds bet.

House Edge Summary

Hand	Losing Odds Bet Pay Table
	1	2	3	4
Straight Flush	500	500	500	500
Quads	50	50	50	25
Full House	10	10	10	6
Flush	8	6	5	5
Straight	5	5	4	4
All Other	Loss	Loss	Loss	Loss
House edge	2.36%	3.06%	3.73%	4.55%
Element of Risk	0.64%	0.83%	1.02%	1.24%

This is full table cloth.

Trips Plus

The Trips Plus bet will pay according to the poker value of the player's hand regardless of the value of the dealer's hand. Following is an analysis of the most common pay table.

Trips Plus Return Table

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal flush	100	4,324	0.000032	0.003232
Straight flush	40	37,260	0.000279	0.011140
Four of a kind	30	224,848	0.001681	0.050420
Full house	8	3,473,184	0.025961	0.207688
Flush	7	4,047,644	0.030255	0.211785
Straight	4	6,180,020	0.046194	0.184775
Three of a kind	3	6,461,620	0.048299	0.144896
All other	-1	113,355,660	0.847300	-0.847300
Total	133,784,560	1.000000	-0.033363

The next table shows four known pay tables for the Trips Plus.

Trips Plus Pay Tables

Hand	Pay Table
	1	2	3	4
Royal flush	100	100	100	100
Straight flush	40	40	40	40
Four of a kind	30	30	30	30
Full house	9	8	8	7
Flush	7	6	7	6
Straight	4	5	4	5
Three of a kind	3	3	3	3
All other	-1	-1	-1	-1
Total	-0.74%	-1.74%	-3.34%	-4.34%

Pocket Bonus

The Pocket Bonus bet will pay according to the value of the player's two hole cards. The follow tables show what each two cards pays, the probability, and contribution to the total return for each known pay table for the Pocket Bonus.

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 1

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	30	6	0.004525	0.135747
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	5	72	0.054299	0.271493
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.045249

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 2

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	25	6	0.004525	0.113122
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	5	72	0.054299	0.271493
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.067873

Pocket Bonus — Pay Table 3

Hand	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Pair of aces	30	6	0.004525	0.135747
Ace & face suited	20	12	0.009050	0.180995
Ace & face unsuited	10	36	0.027149	0.271493
Pair 2s - Ks	4	72	0.054299	0.217195
Loser	-1	1,200	0.904977	-0.904977
Total	1,326	1.000000	-0.099548

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Charles Mousseau and Stephen How for their assistance, which confirmed my analysis. Thanks to Charles also for his advice on the medium and small raise strategy.

Internal Links

Detailed calculations on some starting hands.

Extneral Links

Play Heads Up Hold 'Em at the Galaxy Gaming web site. One click and you're playing.

Written by:Michael Shackleford