Run It Once Expanding Your Range
Expanding Your Range : A Natural Transition into Heads-Up No-Limit
If you’ve been grinding 6-max no-limit for a while and have ever found yourself curious—or even slightly intimidated- by heads-up play, you’re not alone. Heads-up no-limit (HUNL) has a reputation for being aggressive, uncomfortable, and deeply strategic. But what if learning it wasn’t as overwhelming as it seems?
“Run It Once Expanding Your Range ” is a practical mini-course explicitly created to bridge that gap. Taught by Nuno Alvarez, a respected Elite coach on Run It Once, this nine-part series is all about helping experienced 6-max players build confidence and competence in heads-up games — even if they’ve never played HUNL before.
What sets this course apart is how it breaks things down: rather than overwhelming you with theory, Nuno provides structured, digestible lessons that focus on both GTO foundations and practical adjustments. Whether you’re looking to improve your winrate in the Zoom pool, prep for final-table battles, or simply sharpen your overall poker instincts, this course gives you the tools to dive in — without feeling like you’re starting from scratch.
Why Heads-Up Matters (Even if It’s Not Your Main Game)
In the opening lesson, Nuno highlights the core differences between HUNL and 6-max — and why it’s important to respect those differences. In heads-up, you’re playing nearly every hand, facing wide ranges, and constantly adjusting based on dynamics. There’s no hiding behind position or tight play here; you’re in the arena from the first hand.
The course starts by showing you how the structure of the game changes — both technically and psychologically — when it’s just two players. From range construction to mental gameflow, Nuno lays a solid foundation to help you rewire your thinking as you move from multi-way pots to the one-on-one battlefield.
Getting Preflop Right: Balance and Adjustments
Preflop is where everything begins, and in HUNL, your opening range is often close to 100%. That means your understanding of preflop play needs to be both wide and precise. In two focused preflop lessons, Nuno first dives into standard GTO ranges and then discusses when and how to deviate based on reads, tendencies, and stack depth.
You’ll learn about the importance of denying equity when you’re out of position, how to adjust your raising frequencies, and how postflop planning starts with preflop decisions. This is also where players new to HUNL often struggle: sticking too rigidly to 6-max habits or failing to recognize how often the preflop raiser is also the caller in this format. These lessons reframe your approach in a way that’s easy to apply.
Flop Play: The Myth of Range Betting
One of the standout sections in the course is the lesson titled “The Range Bet Fallacy.” In 6-max, you might be used to auto-piloting range bets on dry boards after opening. But in heads-up, that approach often falls flat. Nuno explains why the strategy behind range betting doesn’t always translate to HUNL and shows you when it makes more sense to bet small, check back, or go big.
Because ranges are so wide in HUNL, you often hit boards in unexpected ways. That means you need a more nuanced understanding of range interaction, board texture, and opponent tendencies — not just solver-approved lines. This lesson alone can save you from leaking chips by betting automatically in spots where checking is more profitable.
Blockers, Unblockers, and Thinking in Ranges
Heads-up play forces you to think in ranges at every street. That’s why the course spends a good amount of time discussing blockers and unblockers, helping you understand when each matters most.
It’s not just about whether you “block the nuts,” but about how your hand interacts with your opponent’s likely range. Sometimes you’ll want to hold key blockers to prevent your opponent from having strong hands. Other times, it’s better to not block their folding range so your bluffs get through more often.
This type of thinking helps you construct more balanced ranges and makes your play more resilient against strong opponents who are trying to exploit your tendencies.
Bluffing and Value: Knowing Your Thresholds
Another important part of heads-up poker is recognizing when a hand should be a value bet, a check, or a bluff. In wider-range formats like HUNL, your hand’s relative strength matters a lot more than its absolute strength. That top pair you’d confidently value bet in a 6-max pot might be a bluff-catcher in heads-up.
Nuno walks through how to set value and bluffing thresholds based on board texture, gameflow, and stack-to-pot ratios. You’ll learn how to shift gears in real-time and avoid common pitfalls like overvaluing mediocre hands or missing profitable bluff spots.
Understanding Gameflow: Timing, Momentum, and Meta
Gameflow is one of those subtle factors that’s hard to quantify but easy to feel — especially in heads-up. Over multiple hands, you build a psychological battle with your opponent: stealing one too many pots, calling down light, or punishing timing tells.
In his lesson on Gameflow, Nuno explains how to think about these dynamics without falling into leveling wars. Instead of playing reactively, he teaches you how to use gameflow to steer the session in your favor — balancing aggression with discipline, and pushing edges at the right times.
The Art of Non-Natural Bluffs
Many players struggle to find good bluffing candidates, especially on later streets like the turn. Nuno’s lesson on non-natural bluffs opens up a powerful way to add depth to your strategy.
Rather than relying on obvious straight or flush draws, you’ll learn how to identify hands that don’t look like bluffs at first glance — but actually perform well as part of a balanced range. It’s this kind of creativity that separates average players from strong heads-up crushers.
Wrapping It All Up: Why You Should Be Playing Heads-Up
The final video pulls everything together and offers a long-view perspective. Even if HUNL isn’t your main game, learning it improves your poker brain in ways that translate across formats. You become more comfortable in marginal spots, better at reading ranges, and more confident in close decisions.
Nuno also touches on the actual EV of HUNL games — especially in today’s environment, where many players avoid it or approach it poorly. By developing a solid, structured heads-up strategy, you can gain a real edge in a player pool that often underestimates the format.
Course Content Breakdown:
Introduction
Main differences between HUNL and 6-Max NL
Learn what the main differences are between both games and how they should be approached
14:56
Preflop Strategy
GTO Preflop ranges and adjustments
Deep dive into the GTO Preflop ranges and how to deviate from them when necessary
11:11
Preflop Main Ideas
Establish the general preflop principles required for success when playing heads-up
06:04
Flop Strategy
The range bet fallacy
The reason why range bets are not as common in HUNL as they are in 6-Max
28:58
General Ideas
Blockers vs Unblockers
When to look for blockers and when for unblockers, depending on the range of interactions
21:52
Value and bluffing thresholds
Learn how to properly assess the SD value of your hands and adjust to a wide range of scenarios
14:45
The Gameflow
Learn the secrets of the flow of the game and why it’s so important in HUNL
14:49
Turn Strategy
Non-natural bluffs
Learn to find those unpredictable bluffs to be able to play your range correctly on later streets
15:54
Conclusion
Conclusion
View of the actual EV in HUNL and why we should play it no matter what our main game is
12:35
Final Thoughts
“Expanding Your Range ” isn’t just about adding a new format to your repertoire — it’s about levelling up your entire game. Whether you’re preparing for heads-up battles at the end of SNGs or want to feel less lost when facing wide ranges, this course gives you a proven roadmap.
With its clear structure, innovative concepts, and real-world examples, it offers one of the most accessible entries into HUNL available, especially for players coming from a 6-max background. It doesn’t try to impress you with complexity. Instead, it shows you how heads-up play really works — and how you can make it work for you.
Do you want to learn more about HUNL? Go here.
