Rudy Edwards

While Honan and I were in Jacksonville learning from Crosby, one of the more entertaining things of the trip was watching Cros play NL Heads up.

I have a lot of experience in Limit Heads up play, and am intrigued by the NLHU game. I absorbed quite a bit by watching Crosby, and on the road trip from JAX to ATL, Honan and I discussed the game a decent amount. Once back in the ATL, I scabbed a quick game on Full Tilt with Honan watching while we were waiting on dinner over at The Big House.

I was playing well outside my comfort zone, as the smallest heads up table they had was NL100, and this was my first NLHU game, but I had quick success. I could've gone hunting for HU games at empty tables of lower limits, but I wasn't in the mood to have to work for it. In fact, it's my experience that you want Heads Up games to go as long as possible. Even if you are losing, if you are the better player, you'll tend to leave the game with a profit as long as your mark doesn't stand up.

I was up 400 on a guy, when he kept buying in and eventually took his money back on a few consecutive hands. Aziz was watching and assured me that what I needed was patience, the guy was not smart and as long as he sat, we'd take it back. Aziz was right, and over a marathon session, I was able to come back from a starting stack to scooping his chips.

It took a little longer that usual because I called a overbet that I probably shouldn't have called, against Aziz's advice. Don Smith was watching, had been giving great advice up to that point, and he could tell I wanted to call. TIme was running out, and Aziz told me I should fold, when I looked at Don. "You could call...." he said and I quickly hit the call button. I was just looking for any reason to do it, and made the game a little harder for myself.

Between Don, Justin, Aziz, and Honan cycling around behind me, I got a lot of that great Dialogue I like to claim is the best way to learn, and I've developed a love for NL Heads-up. I can't play more than one table at a time, but it really tickles that part of the brain that loves the cerebral competition.