How to Play the Button Heads-Up

In heads-up, the button (small blind) acts first before the flop but last on every street after — which makes it the most profitable seat in poker. The plan is simple to state and hard to master: open very wide, then use your positional edge relentlessly after the flop.

Open wide preflop

Because you'll have position for the rest of the hand and there's only one opponent to get through, the button can profitably raise a large majority of hands. Limping has its place in some strategies, but a wide, aggressive raising approach is the standard and the easiest to play well. Folding the button too often is one of the biggest heads-up leaks.

Use position after the flop

With position locked in, you can:

• Continuation-bet a wide range, sized to the board.
• Take free cards with draws when checked to.
• Control the pot with marginal hands.
• Apply pressure across multiple streets, since the big blind must defend wide and out of position.

Don't auto-pilot

A wide opening range doesn't mean betting everything on every street. Read the board texture, respect the spots where the big blind's range catches up, and adjust to how your specific opponent defends — too much, too little, too passively.

Adjust to the opponent

• If the big blind folds too much, attack with more aggression.
• If they defend and fight back hard, tighten your bluffs and lean on value.

Common mistakes

• Folding the button too often.
• Treating "open wide" as "bet everything always."
• Ignoring how the big blind specifically adjusts.