'Head Up'

In early June, the World Heads-Up Poker Championship took place at the Concord Casino in Vienna, Austria. A total of 75 players decided to give it a shot and see how they faired in a different style of poker. Even though I didn't attend, I have heard great reviews from many. In tournament poker, there are few opportunities to get heads up. The reason is, it isn't easy to make it to the final two places in any tournament unless there is a field of only two. These are the events that I like.

Heads-up play (now referred to as "head up" by today's youngsters) is not the same as playing in a ring game. When playing heads-up hold'em, an A-8 is a huge hand, whereas one should not call a raise with it in a ring game. Also, while playing heads up, bluffing becomes a major factor, as does focus, tilt, yapping, and discipline. In a ring game, it is hard to bet into a random board without someone calling you. In heads-up play, one usually assumes that the opponent doesn't have a typical calling hand. Having said this, I have also witnessed people making calls for all of their money when playing heads up while holding a king high when there is an ace on the board. Heads-up play is all about lying, and trying to figure out when your opponent is lying. The problem is that sometimes good players call a bluff but the opponent's bluff is still the winner. When playing in a limit heads-up game, there is usually a lot of ramming and jamming with neither player having a good hand. When both players finally do have good hands, the loser may blow an extra three or four bets.

Recently, I have become aware of the success of "Amarillo Slim" Preston's heads-up play. He had never lost a World Series of Poker event when down to the final two players until last year's pot-limit Omaha battle against up-and-comer Phil Ivey. In the only two tournaments Slim played in that were heads-up events, he won (of course, this was before anyone really knew how to play poker).

The reason I am mentioning this is because he won his matches at the World Heads-Up Poker Championships not only by playing well, but by talking his opponents into making poor decisions. While Slim's gift of gab worked in most of his matches against Americans, it didn't against his final opponent, Bruno Fitoussi. Bruno is a well-liked businessman from France who runs the Aviation Club and has started a new endeavor called VIP-Gaming, a travel agency for VIP gamblers that also represents Card Player in Europe. Four hands into the final match, the flop came 10 5 2. Bruno made a substantial bet, and Slim moved all in with the Q 8, having four cards to the flush. Bruno called with pocket kings and they held up. Once again, this proves that a businessman with proper discipline can play with the professionals - and win. Congratulations, Bruno! You kept another trophy out of the United States! Read more about Bruno in the "Industry Insider" on page 109.