Heads Up Stats and Game Selection...

[Talking Poker]

This is directed at those of you who play a lot of HU cash games (and ideally those of you who are winners)...

I've been experimenting with some Heads Up tables lately, and I definitely think there is potential for them to be profitable. I've only logged 600 or so hands, so my numbers are pretty much meaningless... but I do have some general observations.

So far, I've seen a couple different kinds of opponents - good players (or at least average) and bad players (below average). I know, I'm a genius, right? Anyway, through 600 hands, I haven't seen anything that has really floored me or even once felt like I was outmatched by my opponent. That's not that say that I wasn't, but it wasn't so bad that I ever felt the need to leave the table or anything. There HAVE been times, however, where I felt like I was far superior to my opponent, could quickly identify his style and exploit his weaknesses. Obviously, this is going to be a much more profitable situation for me to play in long term.

So, after all this rambling, my question is this: What criteria do you guys use for Table Selection? Do you actually target certain opponents, or do you just sit down and see who shows up to play? So far, I've been doing the latter, but just like in 6 max or full ring games, I have to assume good game selection is +EV. I imagine one could datamine the HU tables for hours and hours, identify and seek out the weakest opponents and join their waiting lists in hopes that their opponent leaves, but realistically, how often will this work? I'm thinking the weakest of opponents are probably playing with most of all of their bankroll and they won't be around long enough to play them anyway...

My theory right now is to choose tables based on the sizes of the players' stacks. If someone is sitting alone with half a buy in, chances are he's a weak player. If he sitting with 3 buy ins, chances are he's decent - he's obviously been winning. I can't imagine any good player ever sitting with a fraction of a buy in though (unless he's playing JD's crazy MIN bet game), so I think it's fair to assume those players are weak. Also, if there are two players at a table and both have short stacks, chances are they are both weak and that might be a waiting list worth joining. Eventually, one will break they other and have a full buy in in front of him, but that certainly doesn't mean he's a good player - in fact, that may be the ideal situation to seek out.

Sorry for all the rambling... I'm just trying to work some thoughts out in my head and writing this is helping. What are others' thoughts on this?

And lastly, for those of you who have logged a lot of HU hands, what do your PT numbers look like? I'm just curious.