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Server Time: 2/12/2012 2:55:52 PM PACIFIC |
 Learning to play Shorthanded, Brian462, 27. Sep 2003 20:10 | ||
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| I'd like to learn to play well in shorthanded hold'em games but am not sure where to turn. I own Wilson Turbo Texas Hold'em and have played many hours shorthanded on it but it does not seem to help much. I can beat the advisor regularly and always beat the opponents on that but in real games I do pretty badly. All of my books that talk about shorthanded games at all just mention it in a few small and not-so-detailed paragraphs. I know about the basic differences between play but I would like to hammer out my skills significantly. I find myself lost when it comes to how often I should bluff and how to play certain hands preflop. Wilson seems to recommend raising with Q8 and up from some positions but I find that blinds are way overprotected by alot of players in SH games and that they hate being pushed around. This may be more prevelant in LL games, but consequently, most of my bluffing comes from times I limp in and either bet out or raise and even then I'm almost always actually semi-bluffing.(The thinking behind this is that I am more suspected to be bluffing when I've raised PF and there is also more in the pot for people to stay in for.) It's because of my lack of ability to push someone out of a pot that I have really reduced my raising preflop. Not getting nearly as many callers as I would in a longhanded game there is more pressure to make something out of my hands. I could write pages full of questions on this but I'll stop now. If anyone has any suggestions, knows any good books specializing in shorthanded play, or anything else that will help me out please let me know. Thanks, Brian | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, NCD, 29. Sep 2003 00:19 | ||
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| I'm not sure about limit, but in a NL game that's gone shorthanded I've noticed that position is far more important than your cards. Especially 3 or fewer players... at that point, it's not about what you've got but about putting your opponents in a position where they don't want to call you because their hands just can't justify it. Since all 3 or 4 starting hands are trash more often than not, your opponents will figure that your trash must be better than theirs and fold, hoping to get something better with next hand. There are a thousand situations and adjustments.... it's more art than science. Just remember that when you're last to act, you have the advantage. Playing shorthanded is a lot like being heads up against the big blind when you have the small blind. It only costs you 1.5 bets to raise the other guy and everyone else has already folded... but all he sees is that he's stuck on the blind, usually with garbage, and he's very much alone while facing a raise from you... and there's not even any money in the pot! Faced with that situation, most people will abandon the blind and hope for better cards on the next deal rather than risk that this hand might get expensive for them. Shorthanded play in NL can be more about good use of position and intimidation than about playing your cards right... because if you use those two correctly, the hand very rarely makes it to the river before someone is raking in the pot. Real showdowns are actually pretty rare. NCD | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, Formless, 29. Sep 2003 05:35 | ||
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| The following link has some ot the most powerful stuff on short-handed games that you will ever find. http://groups.google.ca/groups?q=abdul+short+handed+strategy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=180320021822046574%25zbigniew%40invalid.invalid&rnum=1 | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, Brian462, 29. Sep 2003 09:59 | ||
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| Thanks, those are very good articles. | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, ReMMy, 29. Sep 2003 07:22 | ||
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| I consider myself a pretty good heads up and shorthanded player. By that I mean that if I'm in the mood for it, I often find it more profitable than full games. Pretty much all my reading has been on full handed games, pot odds, implicit/implied odds, starting hands etc etc... I learned to play shorthanded just by sitting at the 5 or 6 person max tables at various sites, and personally I think this is really the best way to learn. Shorthanded is more about "feel" than any specific strategy. You have to be able to understand your opponents and adjust your play to them. Do they like to fold on the flop? Will they always pay the small bet at the flop and fold on the turn if they don't hit? Is a check raise usually a bluff or an actual hand? Do they refuse to fold the river? Every time you can answer one of these questions you should adjust your play, hence each session you may play completely differently. The players that don't adjust in shorthanded games are the ones losing money, IMHO. So my suggestion is to basically pay your tuition at the tables, do it at a limit you feel comfortable losing money at and expect to pay off some bets you know you will lose in order to see what someone was playing with, then reconstruct the way they played their hand. If you can't get a good read on anyone at the table, get up and sit somewhere else. Best of luck! | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, Lou Krieger, 29. Sep 2003 11:48 | ||
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| on 27. Sep 2003 20:10 Brian462 wrote: "I find that blinds are way overprotected by alot of players in SH games and that they hate being pushed around. This may be more prevelant in LL games, but consequently, most of my bluffing comes from times I limp in and either bet out or raise and even then I'm almost always actually semi-bluffing." While all of poker is in part an excercise in situational adjustments, it's even more so shorthanded. If the blinds are overprotected in the games you play in, you'll find other games where they are not, and play needs to be adjusted accordingly. You'll also find that while a raise before the flop might not get opponents to fold, following through and betting the flop and the turn may often do the trick. It's nice if you can cause opponents to lay hands down to one bet, but you'll find that you have to fire two and sometimes three bullets to get them to do that. If your opponents won't move out of the way in the face of a raise before the flop and bets on the flop and turn, then you know they are calling with hands that are weaker than yours, and you'll make your money by value betting. Once they get the idea that you usually have a good hand when you bet for value, you can add a few bluffs into the mix and make some more money that way. The thing about shorthanded play is that value betting is different than it is in full games. If you're playing three-handed, any hand with an ace is probably worth a value bet, though it might not be if the game is five-handed. Second pair is a value betting hand in a short game, and may even be worth a raise if someone bets into you. You'll have quite a bit more variance shorthanded, because you have to gamble a bit, and you can't just sit around and wait for big hands to come your way -- the blinds come around too often for that. So if you can't live with a higher variance, it's better to avoid shorthanded play. But if you don't mind the added risks, the game can be a lot of fun. Lou Krieger Host at Royal Vegas Poker | ||
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| Re: Learning to play Shorthanded, Eman, 29. Sep 2003 12:16 | ||
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| Excellent Post! I agree with your opinions on Shorthanded Play. I feel I have improved tremendously in Shorthanded games, especiall yin Sit.n Gos. I play alot of SnG's on UB and have done very well. If im hanging around, and theres only about 5 people left, im alsmost always gonna finish in the money (top 3 pay). Im very confident with my shorthanded game. One thing I noticed is that I dont think Ive ever finished 2nd. If im in the money (3 people left), I either finish 3rd or 1st. Even in Cash Limit game (1/2, 2/4, 3/6)games, i usually sit at a 6 person max table and thrive when only 4 are seated...$$$. | ||
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