Heads Up for Rolls

Two online players at a full ring table get into a chat-box war. Little stars appear in place of some of their increasingly colourful language. They insult each other’s Sharkscope graphs and play in general, and then one of them says something like, “OK, you’re so good, let’s play heads up. Right now. Pick a table, ****.” Sound familiar?

Most of the time one or both angry players tilt off their money right where they are and disappear, but occasionally you actually get people facing off one-on-one, in what is seen to be the purest test of the skill of one player over another.

While these one-off ego-battlers’ sample size of hands played is never even close to conclusive, the emotional result of losing or winning heads up is something unquantifiable. There is no middle ground — you will either lose or win (a heads-up tournament) or end up showing a profit or a loss directly proportional to your opponent’s (in heads-up cash, ignoring the often brutal rake on these games).

Given enough time, however, this type of poker does indeed rank people by ability. Everyone I know who plays heads up online has two lists — the players they won’t play and the players they actively look to take on. “The better heads up players will always come through,” says Jeff Kimber, winner of the 2007 World Heads-Up Poker Championship in Barcelona. “When I saw Ketul Nathwani and Tom Bentham on the betting list [for the recent London Grosvenor UK Poker Tour heads up tournament] I knew they were favourites at a good price.”

Bentham especially turned out to be a good bet. He won the live 16-runner, £2,500 buy-in tournament taking the £20,000 top prize with cool efficiency, calmly disposing of all four opponents and showing only the merest hint of irritation as initial tournament favourite and eventual runner-up Richard Gryko appeared to count to ten slowly before every decision.

Used to playing online (as ‘tjbentham’) at stakes which mean this event was of no huge consequence, the little-recognised but peer-rated pro admitted that he wasn’t too fussed about travelling to the rare live tournaments in this format. However, he feels live heads up offers much more value than the equivalent online.

“No one plays live heads-up for a living,” adds Nathwani, “But I play mainly heads up and six-max cash games online. I played the $10,000 heads-up event at the World Series of Poker last year and without wanting to offend live players, am I up for more live heads-up tournaments? Yes!” he says with a grin.

Despite his earlier title, Jeff Kimber doesn’t actively seek out live heads up tournaments, and can’t seem to remember why he played the World Heads-up Championship three years in a row. “I qualified once, I was put in the second year, and the third…” that trails off as his eye starts to wander towards the Omaha cash game in the Victoria Casino.

To get his attention back, I mention the one-on-one top-level challenge on Full Tilt and ask his opinion on Durrrr. “Oh, that’s just stupidity,” he replies, “Why do you want to play the good players?” No one else questioned on this subject would admit to being tempted by Tom Dwan’s heads up challenge, even if bankroll were no object. Ketul Nathwani deadpans, “I am too scared of Durrrr as he is the ultimate man,” at which Bentham smiles ruefully, “He just runs really good on Rail Heaven. Has about $700,000 on me…”

It seems the economic downturn has affected high stakes heads up games online, though. With that one notable exception, big challenges between big players are few and far between now. Nathwani says, “There used to be ego wars back when people had money. Now they’re avoiding them, and some of the higher games have dried up.”

As for heads up online games away from the nosebleed stakes, Kimber comes up with a relevant, though somewhat paranoid, point. “Some people fear collusion online. Heads up play takes away a lot of unknown factors — you can’t really be cheated.” Well, not by gangs of players colluding, anyway. “I used to play heads up sit ‘n’ go’ online. Back then The Camel (Keith Hawkins) was the best player. He just sat on a load of tables, I sat on a load of tables, we probably only played each other once or twice.”

That’s exactly what tends to happen online nowadays, confirms Nathwani.

“The higher level heads up tables are full of bum hunters — guys who just sit by themselves waiting for fish.” They just sit out if a good player tries to take them on, and you end up with a list of lonely ‘1/2’s in the lobby as not a lot of poker gets played.

I think I’m interviewing the wrong nationality or demographic to get stories of heads up for rolls. There is something undeniably fascinating about watching two top-level players focusing all their energies on each other, though no one seems able to keep at least half an eye off Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius.

Neither player might admit it — in fact Dwan is on record saying it’s not about ego for him — but the challenge of that sort of heads up game is necessarily to beat someone you admit is highly skilled. To achieve such a level of objectivity about the game, your own play, and that of your opponent is well nigh superhuman. In heads up poker more than any other variant, there seems an inherent dichotomy between a desire for pure profit and a desire to prove oneself, but that only makes it all the more interesting.

Jen Mason is a part of BlackBeltPoker.com. She is responsible for its live tournament coverage in the UK and abroad.