Learn Texas Holdem

Question:

I have played online Texas Holdem for about two years, mainly no-limit cash games. Recently I made the switch from full tables to short-handed ones.

My results are not what they used to be, but I am learning. Do you have any good strategy tips to share with an aspiring short handed player? There seems to be a big difference between full ring games and short-handed play.

Regards, Jesse

Answer:

My first advice is to loosen up your game. You need to play more hands since the blinds come more often. If you are used to the tight full tables, a good idea is to loosen up gradually. If you suddenly start playing all kinds of hands you are not used to playing it can easily put you off your game. Add more starting hands to your game gradually.

Another important concept is to stop limping. If you are first into the pot you should always raise, and if someone has limped before you it is often good to raise to take control in the pot. In short-handed it is likely you will get heads-up on the flop and you can steal the pot here more often than not.

The size of the raise all depends of the stakes you are playing. If someone has limped before you the raise should be designed to (often) drive the limper out of the pot. If you raise one limper out of the pot and take down the blinds you have earned 2.5 big blinds with a marginal hand (for example 22 or 76s) which is very good. This constant raising is also important to put your opponents off their game. If you keep raising all the time, the inexperienced opponents will soon start steaming and more or less give you their money.

All in all you need to be more creative when you play short handed. Focus more on the game and try to understand your opponents. It is much easier to keep track of four opponents than nine. When you learn their patterns you can be creative and exploit their weaknesses.