Casino online heads-up poker is becoming more and more popular these days. However, many players forget that HU play requires a different set of skills then full ring or shorthand poker. In this post we’ll sum up some basic tips and strategies that might prove useful when you too start playing Heads-Up Pot Limit Omaha.

Position is even more important then it is in a full ring game. In PLO position is ALWAYS very important, but the value of it goes way up when playing HU. Having the advantage of being last to act when playing HU gives you a lot of opportunities to take away pots when your opponent has shown weakness (although be cautious of him trapping you) and allows you to apply full pressure when you have a big draw.

The second thing you should be aware of when playing Heads-Up PLO is that hand ranking changes a bit: big pair hands go up in value and small-connection hands loose some equity. This is because you’re only playing versus one potential opponent, which makes it more likely that a big pair will be the best hand on the river.

And maybe most importantly, you have to able to cope with even more variance then in a full ring or shorthanded game. HU PLO is the most swingy game out there, so if you’re not tilt-prove this game might just not be for you.

Just as I predicted in the last post, the online poker madness was far from over! Patrik Antonius and Isildur1 (the new high-stakes sensation) just crushed the old record:

At just before 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night, Antonius and Isildur1 were in the middle of a three-table, $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha match on Full Tilt Poker. On the “Royal Guard” table, Antonius had built up his stack to nearly $1.26 million from his initial $200,000 buy-in, while Isildur1 was sitting on $678,000. These two high-stakes rivals had already tangled in an $815,000 pot earlier in the evening (then the second-largest online pot ever), and many railbirds believed it was only a matter of time before they saw seven figures at stake on a single hand.

The pot was five-bet before the flop, Isildur1 opening for $3,000, Antonius three-betting to $9,000, Isildur1 repotting to $27,000, and Antonius coming back over the top for $81,000. Isildur1 called and they saw a {5-Clubs}{4-Spades}{2-Hearts}flop.

Antonius bet $91,000 into the $162,000 pot. After a little thought, Isildur1 repotted to $435,000, leaving himself only $162,473 behind. Antonius reraised to $773,000 and Isildur1 called off the rest of his stack, creating a $1,356,946 pot.

Antonius turned up {A-Hearts}{K-Hearts}{K-Spades}{3-Spades}, having flopped a wheel, while Isildur1 revealed {9-Spades}{8-Hearts}{7-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds} for a higher straight draw.

Although Antonius was a 55 percent favorite on the flop, the {5-Hearts} on the turn made him a more than 3-1 favorite over Isildur1. The river was the {9-Clubs} and Antonius raked in more than $1.35 million.

Source: Pokernews.com

Sick!

At the Aussie Millions 2009 cash game Dwan and Antonius played some mixed NLHE and PLO heads-up, with as much as 2,5 million dollars on the table.

This results in some very interesting poker. Check it out!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4