Heads up poker is the purest form of the game and is one of the most profitable game types for skilled players. Heads up poker format means that you will have to play the blind every hand and hence will have to play LOTS of hands - in some cases 100% of the hands you are dealt. Heads-up cash games employ the same rules, hand rankings, and betting structures as normal six-max and full-ring tables, but the action is ramped up considerably. There are some online sites that have excised these types of games completely from their lobbies; yet other rooms continue to spread them.
Poker bankroll management is an important skill - there is no doubt about that. If you can't properly manage your bankroll, you'll eventually go broke. It might be sooner or it might be later, but it will happen.
But bankroll management strategies or systems aren't created equal. Meaning, you could have a rule of always needing 30 buy-ins to play 18-man turbo sit and gos. This might be an ok system for 18-man turbos, but if you took this system and decided to play 180-man turbo sit and go's, it probably wouldn't work. These games are just too different. Busting a 180-man bankroll with only 30 buy-ins is very possible to do due to the variance in the game while it's not as likely to happen playing 18-mans.
The same idea will apply to those of you that play heads up games. There is a smaller edge in heads up games so you'll experience larger swings. You'll want to have a good system set up according to the type of heads up game you play (cash or SNG) and buy-ins, your winrate or ROI, the amount of discipline you have and your psychological tolerance.
General Heads Up Bankroll Management for Cash Games and SNGs
Giving a guide for how many buy-ins you need to play heads up games is somewhat difficult to do because everyone's situation is going to be different. Some players might need to pay their bills and live off their profits while others have nothing to lose (other than their bankrolls). This player might want to move up as aggressively as possible while learning how to 2-3 table, while you might want to really focus on quality poker and 1-table while moving up only after you have a sample stating you're +EV. Everyone will be different so you'll need to adjust the following to suit your needs.
Cash Games
For cash games, I would suggest having anywhere from 10 to 50 buy-ins. The higher in stakes you climb, the harder it is to replace your roll (this idea came from a husng.com article) and the more you rely on your bankroll for bills, the closer to 50 buy-ins you should have.
Gugel, from anskypoker.com, made a post showing over 100k hands where he went on two 20+ buy-in downswings. Granted, he does play higher stakes, but you'll find that these downswings aren't impossible to experience at the lower levels. Gugel went on to suggest that players should have a 40 buy-in bankroll.
Sit and Gos
If you play HU SNGs, the idea will be the same. The higher up in stakes you climb and the more money you have in your roll, the bigger your minimum number of buy-ins should be for any stake you wish to play. I don't play HU SNGs myself, so I here is what husng.com suggests for bankroll management:
- $5 - 15 buy-ins
- $10 - 20 buy-ins
- $20 - 25 buy-ins
- $30 - 30 buy-ins
- $50 - 35 buy-ins
Again, everyone will be different. For myself, I'm more inclined to be aggressive early on with my bankroll when it is small and the competition is soft and practice conservative bankroll management when I get to a level where the games are significantly harder and the swings much bigger.
Heads Up Bankroll Management Depending on Your Winrate or ROI
A big variable in determining your heads up bankroll management guidelines is simply, how good of a player are you? In other words, how big/small is your winrate and/or ROI?
The bigger your winrate or ROI, the more money you win. You could also say that someone with a higher winrate or ROI tends to win more often as well. So, players of a higher caliber will see fewer swings and the swings they do see should be smaller in comparison to losing players. These players can get away with having a smaller bankroll.
On the other hands, losing or breakeven players will win less often. Because of this, their bankroll should be bigger to handle the stress of more frequent and bigger swings.
Heads Up Bankroll Management Based on Psychological Tolerance
Another important variable to consider is how much you can tolerate. How much money can you lose before you start to get uncomfortable?
For example, you might have a 50 buy-in bankroll, lose half of it in one sitting and not care. I, on the other hand, would have a minor panic attack. ZOMG, I just lost half my bankroll.I need to move down, play less tables, study and figure out what I'm doing wrong. As you can see, my tolerance for losing money is much more sensitive. This will likely affect my mood, the volume I put it and I might even adjust to a tighter playing style just to play it safe.
You'll want to adjust your guidelines according to your comfort level. If you can handle losing money, you can probably get by without having as big a bankroll as a player who can't.
Summary of Heads Up Poker Bankroll Management
As it holds true with almost everything poker related, the most accurate answer to the question, how much of a bankroll do I need for HU poker, is that it depends. It's going to depend on the games you play, the buy-ins, your winrate and tolerance for losing money. You can even factor in other variables such as how many tables you play, whether your use software or not, the sites you play on (softer vs tougher sites) and many other things.
The best suggestion I can make is to follow the guidelines above and make any adjustments necessary to better suit your needs. And if you're still having a difficult time, just remember the saying, having more than what you need is better than not having enough.
Heads up poker is arguably the most challenging and potentially profitable form of poker out there. With heads up poker, it’s just you and a single opponent battling it out. Not only is heads up poker profitable, but it’s also the best way to hone your poker skills. Learning how to deal with a single opponent in an aggressive poker match is challenging but well worth the effort. Many of the best poker players in the world are heads up specialists.
We ranked the following poker sites according to their offering of heads up matches. These include both heads up matches and heads up tournaments. Look no further than these heads up poker sites for the best heads up games of all types at all stakes. Fast functioning software and generous loyalty programs make each of these poker sites that much better for heads up players.
Poker Sites with Plenty of Heads-Up Cash Games
| Rank | Poker Site | Country | Sign Up Bonus | Bonus Code | Play Now! |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 888 Poker | €22 Free + up to €400 | T & C's apply | » www.888.com | |
| 2 | Intertops Poker | 110% up to €600 | n/a - use links | » www.Intertops.com | |
| 3 | Party Poker | 100% to €250 | 500BPS | » www.PartyPoker.com | |
| 4 | PokerStars | 100% to €400 + €20 Free | MIK500 | » www.PokerStars.com | |
| 5 | Bet365 | See Bet365 for Details | use links | » www.Bet365.com |
The Mechanics of Heads Up Poker
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In heads up cash games, two poker players buy in for any amount up to the table maximum and then play for cash until one of the players quits. A typical heads up cash game match can last anywhere from a couple minutes to several hours. Just like in normal cash games, there are no increasing blind levels or predetermined payouts. A heads up cash game simply runs for as long as there are two players at the table.
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Heads up tournaments come in two different formats. In heads up sit and go tournaments, there are a grand total of two players in the tournament. Each player buys in for a specific amount and in return receives 1500 chips. The players then battle it out until one player has run out of chips. The player who wins all the chips receives the winner-takes-all cash prize. The blinds increase at regular intervals to keep the game moving at a fast speed.
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There are also heads up versions of multi-table tournaments. These tournaments can include anywhere from four players to several thousand players. In these tournaments, each table seats only two players. When one player wins all the chips, that player is moved on to the next table to play against another single opponent. This continues on until there is only one player remaining. The players then receive payouts based on how far they made it in the tournament. Check out our new heads up poker strategy section to improve your heads up play.