Optimum Short Handed Poker Play
It has been espoused that the three most critical aspects of real estate are location, location and location. Well, the three most critical aspects of optimum short-handed play in hold’em poker are aggression, aggression and aggression. If it’s action you crave then short-handed play should be your venue of choice. By nature of the fewer number of players, you will be forced to play more hands than when at a full table. The playable hand values go up significantly and since there are less players to act behind you, aggressive play is essential. You simply cannot just sit there and wait for premium cards. Let’s now take a look at a few aspects of short-handed play that make it quite different than a normal full game.
Expanding Your Range
As stated in the introduction, hand values go up significantly and you cannot just sit there patiently and wait for premium cards. You need to play many more poker hands and play them aggressively. For example, any Ace is usually playable, and hands like KJ are very playable in short handed games. Some approach short-handed poker play with total abandon and just raise and re-raise with the strategy of brute force should prevail. Part of that approach could be lauded but I believe you should still exercise some hand selectivity.
While you should be expanding your range of playable hands, you should only be attempting to build pots with hands that have some post flop potential. While the aforementioned KJ is very playable, hands like K2 or Q3 are just potential problems in the making. The problem with K2, Q3 and J4 type hands is if you hit a piece of them on the flop you never know where you are. Don’t get yourself in this type of tenuous situation. Remember that folding on occasion will do wonders for the respect you’ll receive as your opponents will recognize you are not just a "raise with everything and anything type of player".
Playing Position
Position is important in all forms of poker as it is obvious that it is more desirable to act last rather than first. Short-handed play magnifies the advantages as well as the disadvantages of most elements of good poker play, including position. If you find yourself in a four handed game then there are really only two significant positions, and you obviously need better hands in the first two than the second two. The ideal in short handed play is to catch big cards in position. But remember that when you turn up the aggressive heat you’ll be played with most of the time, simply because most poker players will have also opened up their range of playable hands and not give you credit for a premium holding.
Bluffing and Value Betting
The first thing you must realize in short handed games is that bluffs are going to get called much more frequently, as your opponents know playable hand ranges have expanded and aggressive play is the order of the day. That is the bad news – the good news is that due to the prevalent mind set in short handed games your value bets have a much higher likelihood of being called. Recognizing this dynamic will help you formulate a winning poker strategy. It’s best that you don’t waste money by bluffing frequently but instead when you’re confident that you have your opponent beat – and make sure to get paid off with value bets.
On occasion you may be able to confuse your opponents by making value bets that are larger than normal. These larger bets may seem like bluffs as they appear to be discouraging a call. The contrarian nature of poker (strong is weak and weak is strong) many times makes an opponent even more willing to call. Try betting about one and one half times the pot as a value bet and you might be surprised at how often you will be called.
Shifting Gears
Shifting gears so opponents don’t become too familiar with your playing style is a fairly rudimentary part of playing poker. To become predictable is not the poker strategy of winning players. Changing gears in short handed play takes on a whole new dimension as your opponents have fewer players to study and they get to see you play many more hands. These two aspects make shifting gears a critical part of optimum short-handed play. Here are a few reasons you might want to shift gears and become even more aggressive in a short-handed game.
- When the table becomes even more short-handed, as in a five handed table becoming four handed.
- If you have been dominating the table either because you’ve enjoyed a good run of cards or find yourself seated among more conservative players.
- If one of your opponents was just caught bluffing or is playing poorly.
- When in a tournament and the blinds have just increased.
Here are a few reasons you might want to shift gears and back your game down a notch becoming more conservative at a short-handed table:
- If you’ve just been caught bluffing.
- When you’ve either won or lost several pots in a row.
- When the players in the blinds are obsessive defenders and will call almost any bet pre-flop.
- When you find yourself playing with a complete maniac.
Monitoring Stack Sizes
As always, you need to be constantly monitoring stack sizes, as discussed in the earlier lesson, “Chip Stack Mangement“. This is critical in tournament play but it is also essential in short handed cash games as the mind set sometimes becomes similar. Short stacks, even in a cash game, will sometimes develop the "double up or die" philosophy instead of just re-loading. These players abhor the idea of re-loading out of their pockets preferring to re-load with your chips. If you smell desperation, don’t push too hard unless you have a quality hand. Exploit this desperation, don’t succumb to it. Just be aware to exercise caution with these short stacks as you want to take the last of their chips not double them up.
Keeping One Step Ahead
Aggression, aggression and more aggression is certainly the hallmark of good short-handed poker play. While this is true, make sure to temper it with the elements discussed in this lesson. Just raising and re-raising, hoping your opponents will bend to your will, may work for a while but observant opponents will figure out that they need to play back and/or trap you with solid holdings. The next thing you know your recently inflated stack will disappear. The true masters of poker keep one step ahead of their opponents by anticipating how long one particular gear or style of play will work before needing to shift. Accomplished short-handed poker players make the shift before being caught and continue to confound their less adroit foes.
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