A Shorthanded LHE Article I was working on

Well, I was going through some of my files and whatnot and remembered I made this about a year and a half ago, right before I made the switch to NL. Its of completely no use to me now and its not finished at all. Also, I'm not aware of how the games have changed but this was applicable for me to beat 10/20 6max pre-regulation at Party Poker. I think most or all of it is preflop play, and btw I haven't even read over it since I read it. Feel free to change it or ignore it.

Where I WANT to be on a consistent basis to where I believe my expectation is the greatest:

Position: VPIP PFR
SB: 32% 23%
BB: 25% 15%
UTG: 18% 18% (no open limping obviously)
MP: 23% 22%
CO: 28% 23%
Button: 28% 23%

Attempt to Steal: 35%
Folded BB to Steal: 60%
Folded SB to Steal: 70%
W2SD: 40%

I'll start with the individual positions, in no particular order.

Button and CO:

Preflop

Value Raising: The term raising for value comes into effect here. These hands are purely standard, no matter who is the original raiser or limper in the pot, these hands are always a raise.

Facing no raise:

Open Raising/Blind Stealing:

-Unsuited Broadways: JTo+, QTo+, KTo+
-Suited Broadways: JTs+, QTs+, KTs+
-Unsuited Aces: A2o+
-Suited Aces: A2s+
-Pocket Pairs: 22+
-Miscellaneous: K4s+, K7o+,Q8s+, Q9o+, J8s+, JTo, and T9s

This will gives us pretty close to 35% Attempt to steal blinds and open raise from the CO and Button.

1 limper, if loose passive, see isolation raise section. For other players(Tight aggressive players and other 40/20 players):
-Unsuited Broadways: JTo+, QTo+, KTo+
-Suited Broadways: JTs+, QTs+, KTs+
-Pocket Pairs: 22+
-Suited Aces: A7s+
-Unsuited Aces: A8o+

Caution: Tight-Aggressive players that open limp are generally found as weak postflop but still have quality hand selection. If villain has a history of limping better hands than the ones above, then do not value raise behind him with a worse hand. An example, if a TAG open limps QJo, do not raise any hand worse than QJo; just simply limp behind him. With proper table selection the amount of situations that you will have to make this decision is very minimal.

2-3 limpers: Raising in this spot with anything other than premium holdings is spewing. Raise only the suited broadways above and A9s+ and TT+, as well as ATo+. Otherwise, limp behind all other hands playable, adding in A5s+ and A7o, while not playing 22-44 unless you are sure the blinds will call.

Facing a raise: Reraise only premium holdings. Against some players you can 3bet 22+, but you should usually do this only with 55+ until you get comfortable with it. Also, 3bet most TAGs and Semi-Loose Aggressive oponents with ATo+, ATs+, KQo+, KQs+, and sometimes KJs+. Generally, if you think his raising range is greater than your own from his same standpoing, feel free to reraise him.

-Cold callable hands: Suited Broadways only, with the occasional A8s-A9s type hand. If you expect more than one caller behind you, then sometimes 9Ts as well. QTs is negative in my experiences as well, but with a large enough field cold call with it; otherwise throw it away.

Facing a raise and a reraise: If it is a maniac who has 3 bet, then cap with hands like ATs+, but if it is a semi-tight raiser, fold all hands except AQo+,AQs, and TT+, both of which shoud be capped. These are only standard of course, as if the person is a very tight raiser then stick with your premium holdings. AQo, AQs and TT are usually safe plays against even the tightest players.

Facing a raise, reraise, and cap: Very rare spot, but play only AK and JJ+ in this situation.

Isolation Raising/Reraising: Isolation raising and reraising is an important part to 6 max play. Having correct table and seat selection allow you to isolation raise effectively and get the maximum value out of your hand.

Who NOT to Isolation Raise: Tight Aggressive players that have open limped from the first 2-3 positions. Since these players are tight to begin with and can play well postflop, building a big pot with marginal holdings is not the most optimal strategy.

Who to Isolation Raise: In general, players that will open limp from the first 2-3 positions, as long as they aren't Tight-Aggressive. As long as the player has a Voluntary Put Money in Pot (VPIP) of over 40%, isoraise away. The standard and optimal Isolation raise type hands, against opponents who are very loose and very passive (60+% VPIP), where he typically will open limp hands like J2s and T6o, are:

-Unsuited Broadways: JTo+, QTo+, KTo+
-Suited Broadways: JTs+, QTs+, KTs+
-Unsuited Aces: A5o+
-Suited Aces: A2s+
-Pocket Pairs: 22+
-Miscellaneous: K4s+, K8o+, J8s+, J9o, and T9s

These hands are only for the right table, where there are tight blinds that won't likely call and there is small probability of anyone cold-calling behind you. Frankly, you want the hand Heads-Up with your loose-weak opponent and have position. Some of these hands also play well multiway, such as the suited broadways, but otherwise Heads-Up is optimal. A typical deviation from this strategy if there are loose blinds, which is very common, is to tighten up the unsuited and suited aces, to A7o+ and A5s+ respectively. Pocket pairs should also be tightened up to 44+ in this situation, although 22-33 can occasionally be added. Throw out most of the miscellaneous hands as well.

Who to Isolation Reraise: There is only one type of player to Isolation Reraise, and that is the maniac. The player must have a Preflop Raise (PFR) over 30% to make most of the hands in the Iso-raise category above isolation reraise capable. If the opponent has a PFR of over 40%, then every one of the hands above should be iso-3bet, excluding the miscellaneous hands.

UTG

Preflop

Probably the easiest among any of the positions, its quite simply raise or fold when you are first to act. At every 6 max table, you should start with this standard UTG raising and modify it from there:

-Unsuited Broadways: QJo+, KJo+, KTo+
-Suited Broadways: JTs+, QTs+, KTs+
-Unsuited Aces: A9o+
-Suited Aces: A7s+
-Pocket Pairs: 22+

This gives us a VPIP and PFR of 18%. If the game gets 4 to 5 handed and you have proper table selection, you can start adding other isolation hands to isolate the loose weak blinds. Hands such as K7s, A7o+, and A5s+ can be added in situationally and will turn out to be quite profitable. If your position isn't the greatest and you have serial cold callers on your left, you have to tighten up your raising selection. Hands like 22-44 should be folded in this instance as well as KTo and QJo most of the time.

MP

Preflop

Middle position play is quite possibly the most static position out of any. A lot of the time the middle position is cut out, because the game is 5 handed. In that case treat it more like the CO than UTG, but a few adjustments still need to be made.

Open raising:

Your range will be very similar to UTG, with only 2-3 additions.

-Unsuited Broadways: TJo+, QTo+, KTo+
-Suited Broadways: JTs+, QTs+, KTs+
-Unsuited Aces: A8o+
-Suited Aces: A7s+
-Pocket Pairs: 22+

This will give us a roughly 21% VPIP and PFR as you shouldnt be open limping here as well. There are a few exceptions that need to be taken into account, both of which are similar to the Button and CO play.

Limping Behind:

A player limps UTG before you act: Probably one of the toughest decisions I have to make is whether to Isolate this weak player on a raise, limp behind him or simply fold. I think the decision hangs more on who your opponent is and who is to act behind you than anything.

A TAG: If a Tight-Aggressive player limps UTG and you have a marginal holding, raising is not what I would do. I would decrease my raising range to simply suited broadways, A8s+ and pocket pairs 55+. Most of the unsuited broadways should be limped behind such as JTo and QTo, but they can also be folded if you have aggressive players to act behind you. KQo on the other hand should be an auto-raise and KJo is pretty much a split between raising or calling. A9o and higher though can still be raised quite profitably as having that ace is important. Do NOT limp suited connectors here, including 9Ts, as it is not profitable.

A Loose-Aggressive: If a loose aggressive player limps UTG, and he has a VPIP between 40-50 VPIP, then you should raise more than with a TAG. QTo becomes raisable in this spot as you have a 51% edge against a 40/20, and you win more money (with higher variance however) than limping behind. On the other hand, JTo and 9Ts you should limp behind but not iso raise, as you go from a slight underdog heads up to a favorite 3 way. All other suited connectors should be folded.

A Loose-Passive: If a loose passive player limps UTG, and he has a VPIP over 60%, then you should both raise more and see more flops with this person in the pot. Raising with your high card hands become even more pertinent, and you could reasonably raise to isolate A4o and A2s, as well as K9o and K7s. You could limp behind though K5s, Q8s, J9s, T8s, and 98s. All these hands were evaluated using PokerStove, given that no one else limps behind you and it is 3 way with you, the 60% vpiper and a random Big Blind. This is a 30% VPIP.

I'm going to have to test these poker stove creations before I can lay truth to them. It's quite possible that they just don't play well but I have a good feeling about it. This is of course if you can play well postflop.

That is all I got through, looks like I didn't hit blind defending or other SB/BB play. Have fun.

Great post i haven't seen anything that i disagree with here. I think every player needs a solid base to work their own style of play off of, and this is a post i suggest to be reviewed and remembered when at the tables, great post Jeff.

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A Shorthanded LHE Article I was working on

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A Shorthanded LHE Article I was working on