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Texas Hold'em: Shorthanded Play
The following is an article on
learning how to play winning shorthanded texas holdem poker. This article
is geared towards limit play but many of the concepts carry over to no limit
holdem as well. The concepts introduced here are advanced so please be
careful about their application. This article will also help out heads up
play. I assume you already have a decent understanding of regular holdem.
What is shorthanded play?
Short Handed poker is normally
defined as a table that has less than 6 people. A normal holdem ring game
has 10 people. When it gets down to half of that amount then the dynamics
of the game change. The same style that won with 10 people now is too tight
for a shorthanded game. For the sake of this article I'm going to define
shorthanded play as a table where there are 3 or 4 people. I think the 5 or
6 person table is right at the threshold where things start to change so I
want to discuss the real thing -- full fledged shorthanded texas holdem
poker.
Why learn to play
shorthanded?
There are four main reasons
why you should learn to play shorthanded holdem and those are as follows.
The first reason is the money. Chips move much faster in shorthanded games
then in ring games. If you know what you are doing you have more
opportunities to milk the weak players -- you get way more hands per hour.
Next, if you like tournament play then you need to be a good shorthanded
player because there is only one winner at the end of the day and that
requires you knock out everyone at the final table. You'll never been a
good tourney player unless you can play well heads up or with just a few
other players at the table. Third, if you have any desire to move up the
stakes ladder to middle and upper limits you need to be able to play well
shorthanded. Many of the concepts that make you a strong shorthanded player
also make you a good upper limit poker player. Lastly, shorthanded play
includes many of the more fun aspects of poker (not just waiting around all
day for your cards): betting, bluffing, raising, position, etc.
Differences Between
Shorthanded And Ring Games
Because you only have 2 or 3
opponents, there is a big difference between the strategy used in ring games
that have 10 players and shorthanded games. The first difference you will
notice is that most shorthanded games are far more aggressive. There is
more betting and raising with weaker hands. When only 3 or 4 people get
hands, the chance of someone having a big hand goes way down and people play
accordingly. Often times no one hits the flop and the person with the
initiative, the bettor, wins. Bluffing is also a more crucial part of the
game because like I just mentioned, you will rarely have a great hand and
someone has to pull each pot. The reason that you can't wait all day for
good cards like you can in ring games is because the blinds will eat you to
death. The amount of hands you see per hour in a 3 or 4 person holdem game
versus a ring game is double or even triple. That means two things; first,
you'll be playing more hands against the same opponents then you would at a
full holdem table; second, weaknesses or holes in a person's game will be
magnified because they will be involved in more hands. That can be a double
edged sword unless you know that you are doing. Next, as the amount of
players and the hand strength go down, position becomes a much more powerful
tool. A good shorthanded holdem player, or a good poker player in general,
is a person who can exploit position. We will cover that in more detail
later. Finally, hand selection changes in shorthanded games. Some hands go
down in value, like suited connectors, while other hands go up in value,
like any hand with an Ace.
Hand Selection
Instead of giving hand
grouping tables, I'm going to try to teach a conceptual approach to hand
selection in these types of games. Let me first explain the pace of these
games. Normally you'll have a raise preflop and the big blind will call.
The raiser will bet the flop and the turn regardless of what they have.
The majority of the time this is how it goes, the other time is split
between someone reraising preflop or everyone folding to the raiser. There
are different types of games and I'll explain those later but by and large
this is what you'll find. Because of this constant attempt at stealing the
blinds you'll need to adjust your perspective on what a good hand is.
Notice how the preflop raiser has a lot of ways to win -- he can steal the
blinds, he can flop the best hand, or he can bet out the person who just
called. Calling is always a weaker play because it forces you to either hit
a flop (which doesn't happen that often) or you can try to bluff which can
lead to a big mess if you aren't careful. And if you do call down and win,
it won't be a very large pot. So the hands that you will be willing to raise
preflop with and bet will be different then the hands you will call someone
else's raise with preflop. The ideal hands are hands that do well when all
the cards are out. Try an experiment the next time you are watching TV.
Get a deck of cards out and deal two hands -- look at one of the hands
only. Then deal the flop out, the turn and the river. Before the flop,
guess whether you'll beat the other guy when all the cards are out. What
you'll notice is that a good portion of the hands are won with only a high
card. So first off, hands that include an Ace are great. Next, you have
hands that include a King (K5, K6, K7, ...). Being suited helps, but most
of the time it won't come into play so it doesn't add that much value. Hands
that can also work together to win in more ways then just catching pairs are
helpful, hands like J9, T8, QT, Q9. Obviously, any hand that you normally
consider good in a ring game is great in a shorthanded game. High card
strength is first along with pairs (like 55, 88, 33 even). How aggressive
you'll bet with these hands depends on your opponent and the flop. In short
handed and heads up poker the goal is to have the initiative, the betting,
and force the other person to make a hand to beat you. If they let you do
that, you will win in the long run. If they get tricky and start making
plays on you, then you'll have to play tighter and more carefully. So the
good hands are any ones you would normally play in a full game (KJ, KQ,99,
all those), any hand with an Ace (A4, A7, A3, etc), then any hand with a
King (K7, K9, etc), and any pairs. There are other hands you can play
profitably too out of the blinds or against weak players and those include
connected cards or suited cards -- remember that you'll need to hit flops to
win these or bet your opponent out. Examples of these hands would be 97s,
T6s, etc.
Playing The Player
In short handed holdem, you
will be playing many more hands against the same players. Because of this
you have more opportunity to fine tune your play against them in a way that
exploits their weaknesses. Your first priority is to categorize their play
in a general way so you know what to expect. You can reevaluate later as you
get more information but it has been my experience that not many people
change their style of play -- this is called "changing gears." I don't run
across many players who are really passive or tight and then switch up their
play and start raising with weak hands and bluffing. And the players who
are tricky will remain tricky throughout the entire game. There are some
general questions you can answer right away (in 10 hands) that let you know
what to expect with the rest of the game. First, what do they raise with
preflop? Does it matter what position they are in or do they only raise with
good hands? Do they religiously raise in late position with any two cards?
Do they push hands on the flop and turn? By that I mean if they have nothing
(no pair and no draw) will they bet both the flop and the turn if you
only call. This is an important lesson because if you find a weak player
all you have to do is call the flop bet and then if they check the turn card
to you, you know that they don't have anything. On the flip side, if you
have a player that will always bet if you check, you won't need to call them
down with much to win (even bottom pair will often be good). Do they bluff?
It's easy to beat someone who never bluffs. The reason this is easy is
because you always know "where they are at." For example, if a person never
bluffs and they bet or raise into you when a scare card hits (like an Ace on
the turn), then you can easily fold to them. Knowing what your opponent has
gives you a huge advantage if you aren't too stubborn to use the
information. You goal is to find out their style of betting and then use it
against them. You won't be able to do this with all players because they
will intentionally play hands differently then they have before but with
most players you will. You want to be able to raise and then bet into them
and have confidence that if they had anything, they would have already let
you know. The ideal mark (player you want to have at your table) for a
short handed expert is someone who won't be tricky, won't bluff, but will
still call a lot of hands. A key question for this type of player is how
little will they call you with all the way to the river? The less hard
decisions you have to make the more cash you will make so look for weak
passive players.
Bluffing
I already mentioned bluffing
in the context of weak players and how if the person doesn't have a bluff in
them, it is very easy to beat them in short handed or heads up holdem (and
when I say bluff I mean a move actually -- a raise, not just a bet).
Remember that when only 3 or 4 people get hands and only 2 of them see a
flop, the chances are that no one will flop a pair. The person who bets, has
the initiative, will usually win. It's much harder to take away the
initiative from someone in later betting rounds then it is preflop or on the
flop. Why? Because if the person already bet, to bluff you would have to
raise. Or even worse, if you check and they bet, you have to check raise
bluff when they already have a bet invested that round. Being half in makes
it much more likely your bluff won't get them to fold. Being the aggressor
is always favorable to being the caller. Calling has its place but you have
to have more of a hand to make that move. You don't need much to bet, but
you need something to call. There are a few points I want to make about
bluffing. The first point is that you need to be able to spot someone who
isn't playing loose enough for a short handed game. You need to bet into
these players as much as you can (especially if they never bluff). You also
need to be able to recognize flops that probably didn't help them and bluff
them off their big cards. Let's take an example of this... There is a
tight player in the big blind and you raise from the button. The small
blind folds and the big blind calls. Notice I haven't even mentioned what my
cards are yet because it is irrelevant. All I need to do to win is to get a
flop that I know he missed and bet him out. Or I could even out flop him
and win. Once again remember that it isn't easy to flop a hand heads up. So
when he checks the flop that looks raggedly, you bet. Or if the flop has
high cards, bet and take a shot at it. You feed off these people because
you know they won't get tricky and try to bluff you out. You are playing
the odds that he won't get a hand and you'll beat him that way. That's the
first point. The next point about bluffing is that to be a great
shorthanded player or heads up player you need to have a check raise bluff
and a check raise semi bluff on the turn. If you don't know what a
semi-bluff is, please review the other article on this site. The check raise
bluff is very powerful but if you do it on the turn it is even more
powerful. You don't have to do it often, pick your spots -- when you sense
weakness on their side or when you may have a draw. It isn't a total loss
if you get called down because from that point on you'll get more action
from that player. He will remember it the rest of the session.
Give & Take / Priming People
To illustrate this concept,
let me start off with an example. Let's say there is a player at the table
that knows how to play decent holdem at a full table but doesn't fully
understand the strategy behind short handed play. I raise his big blind
indiscriminately. Most of the time he has nothing and either folds preflop
or on the flop. Sometimes he calls with a better hand but I out flop him or
bad beat him a good percentage of the time. This is really frustrating to
him and he begins to realize that every time I raise and bet I don't have a
great hand so he decides he has to take a stand and start opening up his
game. He is correct in that he needs to play more hands against me because
I'm playing too many hands but his approach will be incorrect. A lot of
times he will look for good hands and then hope to check raise me and sting
me. The problem with that though is that like I mentioned, those good hands
don't come often and when he does make his move, it will be obvious. The
point is that you can't win by just calling, if you decide to play, you need
to be in the drivers seat. So what happens with our unsuspecting friend is
that he went from a tight approach where he was losing a little to a looser
approach where he is playing passively calling a lot of hands and losing a
lot. His chips dwindle and the frustration grows even more. Then it
happens, he gets a few good cards and wins three small pots in a row. Then
on the fourth hand he picks up something very nice preflop, AK. He gets
what he wanted, to reraise me before the flop. He catches his Ace on the
flop and I just call. On the turn he bets again, but I raise now.
Considering he has top pair and I've bluffed on the turn before he three
bets me and it gets capped. He loses a huge pot. This is what I call
priming people. I give them a few small pots, setting them up for that one
big pot. See it wouldn't work the other way. If I was playing the role of
the tight player and I hadn't ever bluffed or made any raises without very
strong hands, I wouldn't have got the extra bets on the turn and river
(where they matter). My opponent would know exactly what I had and made the
right move to fold.
Odds And Beating A Bettor
You are going to run into
people who think that they can raise any hand and win as long as they keep
firing chips. The reason they think this is party because it works some of
the time and party because they see good short handed players use this
tactic. Odds go out the window when you are up against someone like this.
The reason is because you have absolutely no idea what they have. They
would bet with 7 high the same way they would with a set of Aces. Because
of this, you can't be a slave to the numbers or they will run over you.
Against these types of players I like to take a concept from no limit. You
need to look at a hand based on how well it would do over 5 cards, not just
the flop. They are going to bet and keep betting. So if you have a hand
like AT and the flop is 45Q it is my guess that you are ahead. You don't
have to get crazy with them, just call them down much more then you would
against a good player. Another concept is the all mighty pair. Heads up,
if you have a pair, you are doing pretty well. That doesn't mean that you
will win the majority of the time but if the flop comes back and you even
have bottom pair, chances are you are ahead against someone who raises
preflop with any two cards.
Position
The fewer players in a hand
and at a table, the more powerful position becomes. Not only because the
person with position is usually the aggressor but because you have more
opportunities to make an extra bet on good hands or save bets on weak hands.
Let me give an example of a move you need to learn -- it is the semi-bluff
raise on the turn with position. You are playing holdem with two other
people and you are on the button with A7off (a nice hand for 3 way holdem).
You raise and the small blind folds and the big blind reraises which isn't
an usual play for this player -- it could mean anything. The flop comes
back 3 - 7 - J. He bets and you just call. The turn is a 9. He bets again
but instead of calling now, you decide to raise. The reason this is a good
move is because chances are he doesn't have a Jack. Most likely you have
the best hand. If you don't have the best hand, he is in a bad spot to
reraise unless he has a monster. Even if he had AA or KK, he would be hard
pressed to reraise because he has no idea what you have. In the event that
he does reraise you can just fold your hand with confidence you were beat
and it would have cost you the same amount as to call the river. On the
other hand, if he calls your bet only then you can follow up with a river
bet if you improve or think you have the best hand, or just check in back of
him and once again it costs you the same amount. Notice that even if he did
have KK, you get that extra bet on the river if the Ace or 7 comes. This is
the power of position. Position can not be bought by the skill of the
player. Every player, no matter how good they are, is vulnerable to
position. Let me give you another example of a semi-bluff raise on the turn
with position that includes scare cards. You raise preflop with a little
pair, the big blind again reraises you. You call. The flop comes back and
it is 9-8-4. Most likely that didn't help him if he didn't already have you
beat so your 55 looks pretty good. He bets of course and you just call.
The turn card brings another 9 or another 8, it could even be an overcard
like an Ace. He bets again and you raise. You put him in a very bad spot
regardless of what he has. Even if he has AA or KK again, he will be hard
pressed to reraise you. So once again you can bet the river if you like or
just check it. It costs you the same amount or you make an extra bet.
Table of contents
General Types Of Players
I'm going to list and describe
some player that you'll run into when playing shorthanded and the general
approach I would use against them. They are listed in no particular order.
Tight Ring Player -
this guy uses the same strategy for a 10 person
table as he does for a 3 person table. I'll steal his blind over and over,
bet him out of pots and just get out of the way of his raises. His cards
matter, mine don't. I'm going to be the aggressor and make him flop a hand
to win. I'll pick off hands where the flop looks raggedy.
Loose Passive Player - the loose passive player is the one who doesn't
raise before the flop, they just call every hand. They will also be willing
to call down with anything. Bluffing this type of player is a no no. You
are going to need to show down the winning hand to take the pot most of the
time. That is the downside, the upside though is that the winning hand
won't have to be very strong. Use his straight forward passive style against
him and make him pay even if you have bottom pair or an Ace and he checks to
you. You can get a lot of value against players like this if you are
willing to bet with weak hands. Keep in mind that they are willing to call
you with even less.
Loose Aggressive Player - this is the guy that just knows how to bet and
raise. Every other hand he will raise or reraise and then bet religiously
to the river regardless if the flop helped him. I'm not going to bluff this
guy -- semi-bluff yes but not bluff because he is already putting in enough
action. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that he doesn't stop
this play until his chips are gone. To do that I'll play more hands against
him. If I miss the flop and turn then he wins, that reinforces his play.
When I hit though, I get full payment. That's the difference between the
loose aggressive player and the good aggressive player -- the good
aggressive player won't pay me off as much if I raise in later betting
rounds, the loose aggro guy will.
Not Quite Sure Player - this guy has caught on to some of the strategy
involved in playing short handed, but isn't quite there yet. He will raise
your blind from the button or small blind, bet the flop but then get chicken
on the turn card to bet again if he doesn't have anything. He will also be
more likely to try to slow play hands by calling to check raise later.
Against this player I would be willing to call more hands on the flop
against -- just about any two cards from the big blind will work because I
know that if he doesn't like his hand he won't bet the turn. I would also
liberally raise his blinds because I know he won't get tricky and try to bet
me out unless he has something. I call him not quite sure because he hasn't
completely made the shift from ring game strategy to shorthanded strategy.
Aggressive Good Player - this person knows how to play short handed
holdem well. He mixes up his game. He uses position well. He is aggressive
and forces you to play back at him if you expect to win. He is tricky and
deceptive and can use bluffs. Against this player I would bluff more
against. Remember that bluffs work better against people who are capable of
folding. Show him a few bluffs and he will remember them the rest of the
game. Then you can slow down a little and wait for a time to sting him.
Try to break even on stealing each other's blinds and then sting him by
just playing slightly tighter then he is. That isn't easy and you need to
be prepared to put in more bets with lessor hands. Another option is just
find an easier game.
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