Shorthand Limit Texas Hold'em Strategy
Understanding how to play shorthand games (six or fewer people) is
important to becoming a winning poker player. Most postflop play in
longhand games involves critical shorthand concepts. If you are an
internet player, you will find that shorthand games are very popular
at online poker rooms. In fact, most high-limit games are played
shorthand.
One of the most important skills in poker is simply playing in
the right game. This is a very under-appreciated weapon in a poker
player's arsenal. Unless you just want to practice, there's no reason
to play against professionals! The best way to examine a game is to
watch how much betting and raising occurs. If there is a lot of
raising and folding, stay away! If people limp in a lot preflop and
then just call bets, join the game! The reason you want to play
against passive players is that selective aggression is the key to
winning at shorthand.
So what types of starting hands should you look for when
playing shorthanded? Many articles have been written about this, but
I'll briefly summarize what I believe are the playable hands.
One thing to remember is that hand values are relative, so a hand can
be good under some situations and total trash under others. For
example, if there has been a lot of action, like a raise, a reraise, a
call, then a cap, I would fold anything besides AA, KK, AK, QQ, and
JJ. You should always think about what the other guy has and guess
whether you have a better starting hand than him before entering a
pot.
Hands to raise with:
Pocket Pairs, AT+, KQ, KJ,
QJ, JTs
Hands to call a raise with:
High Pocket Pairs,
AJ, KQ, KJ, AT (maybe), QJs.
Hands to reraise with:
This
depends on the raiser. Reraise a maniac with any pair or A9+, because
you'll probably be winning at the flop. This sort of player could
easily be raising with A4, so you want to isolate him, even when
holding a hand like 66. Against other types of players, reraise with
strong hands like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ (although you may want to
smooth call with JJ). You should consider just calling with AK and AQ
because it does very well 3- or 4-handed. If you hit top pair with one
of these hands, there is a good chance you will get paid off if the
pot is 3- or 4-way.
Suited connectors and small pairs are
only playable under certain conditions. If people are not aggressive,
it may be possible to limp with these hands and play multi-way pots.
If there are four or fewer players in the game, there will not be any
multi-way pots. So when the game is very short, suited connectors have
very little value. For small pairs, you want to play a heads-up pot if
the game is very shorthanded. Thus, if you are in early position, you
should usually fold small pairs. If you are on the button and everyone
has folded, you should raise with a small pair.
When you have a made hand, bet it. Whenever you have a hand
that is top pair or stronger, you should usually just bet. If your
opponent raises you, you should probably respond with a reraise. Your
opponent may be trying to buy himself a free card on the turn by
raising you. Or he may have a weaker hand and is trying to raise for
value in his eyes. Nevertheless, generally the best move is to bet or
reraise with top pair and good kicker or better.
However,
if you make a pair, but it's not the top pair, you have a decision to
make. This decision will be highly situational, but here are some
general tips. First, you must analyze how strong your hand is relative
to the board.
It is unlikely that someone holds a nine. You should bet
this hand if it is checked to you and probably call down if someone
bets at you. Let's look at another example.
In this situation, your hand is extremely weak. You should
fold this hand on the flop. Basically, measure how good your hand is
against other likely hands.
Another important idea revolves
around when to fold your hand. If you are going to fold, you want to
do so earlier in the pot. For more discussion about this topic, check
out
When To Fold.
Always know how many outs you have, or the number of cards that
will make you a winning hand. But don't be too liberal when counting
your outs.
In this example, you cannot count the Ace as an out. After
all, someone could easily have AK or hold a Jack.
Flop bluffs. If you are the preflop raiser, the flop is
a very good time to bluff.
Suppose you raised preflop, and it is heads-up on the
flop. Your opponent checks to you. Bet! You have nothing, but he
probably has nothing, too. Go ahead and try to steal. In pots that are
contested between just you and one other player, often mere aggression
is enough to win the pot, so your cards don't matter as much.
Semibluffing. Semibluffing is betting when you don't have a made hand yet, but
you are on a strong draw.
You have a flush draw. Go ahead and bet. Not only do you
have a good chance of hitting, you might steal the pot right here.
Other Bluffs. These don't work too well at
fixed-limit, but they do work at times. Suppose the flop is checked
and a Queen comes on the turn. Go ahead and bet. Your opponents are
likely to fold unless they hit a draw or they have a hand themselves.
Please realize that some opponents will call you down with Ace high.
Against these players, don't bluff much. Instead, value bet often, and
win a lot of chips whenever you have any sort of hand against them.
Next Article:
Advanced Shorthand Limit Strategy
