Playing Short handed

I normally struggle when there is 4 or less people at the table because I am a conservative player and i'm not exactly sure what hands i should play. Any tips on playing with few people?

If you want to win the big money in tournaments, it is essential that you develop some skills in shorthanded play. Short handed increases the importance of position and decreases the importance of big starting hands. You can often win consistently shorthanded with bottom pair and aggressive betting without a showdown or without a flop for that matter.

1. Starting hands: Ring game starting hand requirements go out the window short handed. You simply do not have the time to wait for a big A or big pair when it is 4 handed and blinds are high. However, it is still a position game and you can't play crap from UTG.

NL short handed is NOT a showdown game. Your goal is to buy the blinds and bet your opponents out of the pot or off of a better hand. The only time you are looking to show down is when you set a big trap.

So what hands do you play? Assuming it is short handed and you are not in a blind come in for a raise with any A, any medium or small pocket pair,
and any 2 cards that add up to 20 or 21 ie. KJ, KQ, QJ, J10 etc... Hopefully, you pick up the blinds with your raise and move on.

If you are lucky enough to get a premium hand, limp to trap or raise just like you are with you lesser hands. Your usual raise will earn you a little more respect if you show a big hand.

Do not get too cute and raise garbage hands out of the blinds. There is no need to take that risk. Most of the hands you play will come from SB or BB. DO NOT PLAY DRAWS.

2. Defending your blind. If you are SB and get any of hands mentioned above. RAISE. Don't let the BB see a free flop. You can limp sometimes to set up you trap later when you get a premium hand, but you should always take a shot at the BB if nobody else has entered the pot. You can take a shot at the BB with a raise with any 2 cards if nobody else has come in.

If you are BB, and you are facing limpers mix it up. Sometimes take a free look. Sometimes raise or re-raise. You need to send a message that you opponents can't expect to steal your blind at will. However, use discretion. Don't raise/reraise with junk.

3. The Flop. If you hit anything, overpair, middle pair, bottom pair or even 2 overcards...bet and hope to take the pot down right there. If you are raised, fold. If you are flat called, slow down. Sometimes bet the turn and sometimes just check it down. If you catch even the smallest piece of the flop, there is a good chance that you are ahead of your opponent. If you are flat called you may be beat and opponent is trying to get you to put more money in the pot. You opponent also may think you are FOS and his high card A is good enough so again mix it up and check sometimes and bet sometimes with middle or bottom pair on the turn.

BEWARE of the Check raise. If you opponent sees that you are agressive and check raises you fold almost everything unless you have a huge overpair or a set. Check raise usually indicates an overpair, 2 pair, or a set.

4. Draws. Don't play draws as a general rule. However, if a flop hits you big with an OESD or STR8 Flush draw, you might get aggressive and push AI to put the pressure on you opponent. It is a risky play but you take a lot of risks short handed.

5. Bluffing. If you bluff, make it a big one. As a general rule, don't bluff by betting the minimum. Push it AI or fold. Don't bluff too much. If you are chip leader there is really no need to bluff. I like to bluff on the short stack, when I still have enough chips to sting my opponent such that is still matters to him when you win. Short handed you opponents are looser too and are more likely to call you bluff sometimes with lesser hands.

Keep you eye open for your opponents bluff. This is really a "feel". Sometimes you opponent has a huge hand and is praying for a call to put you out. Other times they are full of it and you can double up on them with bottom pair.

Overall, it is a betting game short handed rather than a showdown game. You have to kick up the aggression with lesser cards and bottom pair. At the same time you have to avoid traps.

Things to watch out for...early position limper or SB limp, could be a premium hand waiting for you to make a mistake; Check-raise; Huge bet on the river; Opponent smooth calls your flop and turn bets; opponent smooth calls your pre-flop raise and checks the flop. Don't put all of your chips at risk under these situations unless you have a huge hand.

My Jerry Springer final thought:
1. If you opponents are weak and will let you run them over...do it.
2. Don't be the weakling and let your opponents run you over.
3. Don't do anything too stupid in trying not to get run over (sometimes you opponent really does have a big hand).
4. Trap or be trapped. Be aware of abnormal betting patterns. You have to mix up how you play different hands so you opponents won't be able to see your trap comming. Likewise, be aware of how they have been playing so you don't run into their traps.

Sorry for hijacking your theread Iowaskinsfan but I just wanted to congratulate Steve O on his great post, best short handed strategy I have ever seen.


-anto

Let me just add one thing..

If you're in a ring game, and it gets down to 3 or 4 people, (and this happens often at the party 6-max tables), leave the table.

Luck becomes a much bigger factor when it is down to 3 or 4, and if you're a skilled player I think you'll be much better off moving to a different table.

great strategy man but how much should I bet each time preflop for example..

I wasn't sure if you were referring to Limit or NL He, but just in case you wanted some limit advice I would say:

Just try and mix it up and play fast when you're going to enter a pot. Also, check-raising is one of the biggest element of short handed play. I'll check/raise anything SH. In many ways I like to play certain hands out of poistion short handed. Since you can almost always count on a bet from the button, you'll have way more oppourtunities to check/raise.

Play your draws fast. If you pick an OEr or a four-flush, bet it, raise it. I might even 3-bet a strong draw shorthanded on the flop just to pick up a free-card on the turn. And finally, overcards are really not that bad SH. Your opponents aren't going to be playing premium hands either. Bet to define your hand, see what happens.