Play far more hands and far more aggressively than at any earlier stage, because the button posts the small blind, acts first preflop, and has to defend a blind every orbit. ICM pressure also shrinks to a single pay jump. GTO Wizard's ICM research (source) shows how much tournament equity depends on stack and payout structure: a late entrant's seat in a standard MTT is worth about 10.9% more than the buy-in in ICM seat equity. At heads-up, that structure collapses to two stacks and one payout gap, so chip EV decisions dominate.
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At a full table, you fold most hands because three or four opponents can wake up behind you. Heads-up, there is one opponent, and every hand you fold is a blind you donate. Both players hold a playable range most of the time, and the pot is contested constantly.
Three structural facts drive everything else:
Because you have position postflop and the pot is already part-funded, the button opens much wider than at any other table size. Solver-style strategies open the large majority of hands from the button at normal depths, and the folds are mostly the very weakest holdings. The exact frequency shifts with stack depth, ante structure and the opponent's big blind defense, so treat any single percentage as a baseline rather than a rule.
The big blind defends wide too, but with a different mix:
If you are not sure how often to open, err toward too wide and take the fold equity. Beginners at heads-up almost always play too few hands.
Depth matters more than anything else you can adjust. Use this as a working guide, then verify against a solver or push/fold chart for your exact structure.
| Effective stack | Button preflop approach | Big blind approach |
|---|---|---|
| 40bb and deeper | Raise small (often 2x to 2.5x) or limp some hands; play postflop | Wide defense by calling, with a polarized 3-bet range |
| 20bb to 40bb | Mostly small raises; add 3-bet shove options | Call and 3-bet shove selectively; avoid large calls with weak offsuit hands |
| 10bb to 20bb | Mix min-raises, raise-folds and shoves; value of fold equity rises | Re-shove over raises with a wide range; calls need real equity |
| Under 10bb | Push/fold: shove a very wide range | Call shoves by pot odds; fold only the weakest hands |
At shallow stacks, the maths becomes pot odds against equity. A shove of 8 big blinds into a 1.5 big blind pot asks the caller to put in a modest amount to win a large pot, so calling ranges are wide too. This is why nash push/fold charts for heads-up are so aggressive on both sides.
Aggression is a tool, not a personality. The profitable version has structure.
Open frequently from the button, and punish opponents who fold too much from the big blind by raising even when your hand is mediocre. If your opponent defends too wide, shift toward value-heavy raising and stop bluffing as much.
In position, c-bet small on boards that favor your preflop range, such as ace-high and king-high flops, and check back more on connected low boards where the big blind has plenty of equity. Out of position as the big blind, check-raise more often than you would at a full table, because the button's range is very wide and often weak.
ICM pressure still exists when there is a meaningful gap between first and second place, especially in satellites, bounty events with deal structures, or when the short stack is close to a significant jump. In a standard MTT with a typical payout curve, the jump between first and second is much smaller than the gaps higher up the payout ladder at a nine-handed table, so it affects decisions less. Chip EV is a good first approximation.
If you are discussing a chop, use ICM calculations for the split, then agree terms. Make sure you understand the terms before you accept: a flat chip chop and an ICM chop differ when stacks are uneven.
In a PKO, the final bounty changes the calling price and the shove range. GTO Wizard's analysis of PKO late registration (source) shows that a late starting stack loses about 14% of its value in a PKO. The same principle applies at the end: bounties alter what a call costs and what a win returns. Factor the bounty value into pot odds before you fold or call any all-in.
Heads-up skill only pays if you reach the end. Getting there more often is mostly about the entries you choose. Entering tournaments at the right moment and picking formats where the prize pool outstrips what players put in both help.
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Open most hands, folding only the weakest holdings at normal depths. At shallow stacks the range widens further, and below roughly 10 big blinds it becomes a push/fold decision. Check a solver-based chart for your exact structure, since antes and depth shift the numbers.
At deeper stacks, some solver strategies limp part of the range, and it can work in small stakes when opponents overfold to raises. In most online MTT endgames, a small raise is simpler and keeps pressure on the big blind. If you do limp, do it with a defined set of hands rather than at random.
Only a little in most MTTs, because only one pay jump remains between first and second. It matters more when that jump is large compared with your stack, or in formats such as satellites. Otherwise play close to chip EV.
Bounties add value to a call and raise the price of folding. Include the bounty in your pot odds, and widen calling ranges when winning the hand also wins the bounty. PKO endgames call for more calls than a standard MTT of the same depth.
Choose formats and entry times that give you an edge. Entering with extra overlay value in the prize pool and registering at a sound moment both raise the chance that a given entry ends in a deep run.
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