In poker, there is no better game structure than heads-up if you like action.

I hopped on a pokerstars $5./1 heads up table this morning just for giggles. I have never intentionally played heads up with anyone. Action. You bet you get action, if you like it slow play full ring, do not venture at the heads-up tables unless you really master poker to some extent.

I watched the table for about 5 minutes, and this guy was molesting some fish that would not raise – ever. I saw him raise once on the river. By then, villain had filled a runner runner str8. This seemed like a great table to join so I waited, but it did not take long for this guy to leave.

I took the fishes’ seat. I played for about 15 minutes. How is this game beatable? I was up $1.80. Villain was down $8. That leaves $6 for the rake. 15 cents per hand adds up. I like playing 200 hands an hour, and love that 85s is a raising hand, but seriously, how can you beat the rake?

Indeed the rake can be enormous when you play heads-up compared to other formats, as almost each time you play a hand, some rake will be taken and it really adds up fast. The short answer to remedy the rake is to move up in limits or get a nice bonus. That, or make sushi out of your opponents. Party Poker has a really bad rake structure. I can’t recall what it is, but i remember some people bellyaching about it. PokerStars, UB, and some other rooms have some forgiving rake structures (relatively speaking) for heads up. The heads-up tables at Cryptos actually have a faster rake structure than the 6-max or full ring tables. Shocking that they take so much rake but there are always players battling in heads-up matches.

Rake or not, you can still make money playing heads-up, and it is a great format to really master poker.