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Improving Your Shorthand Game
Each form of poker presents unique challenges - and opportunities! The
size of the game also changes the way it’s played and the way it should be
approached. In this section, we offer some tips on how to confront certain
trouble situations associated with the shorthand (6 players or fewer) limit
game.
I. Dealt a small pocket pair (7's or less)
Pre-flop
Small pocket pairs work best in large, multi-way pots (you're trying to hit
another card of your pair and make trips), or heads up. Thus, your pre-flop
strategy should reflect this. If you're on the button, and one guy’s raised
and another has folded, your most appropriate strategy would be to shut out
the blinds and make it heads up. In this situation, re-raise. But, if you
are the big blind and 3 other people have already called the big blind, it's
better to just check and hope to get a set on the flop.
Piece of advice: Do not use the re-raise to make it heads up against a very
tight player. There's a solid chance he has a higher pocket pair, and if he
does, you're owned. The re-raise to make it heads up is appropriate under
the assumption that your opponent just has two high cards.
On the flop
If you find yourself in a multi-way pot, the answer is easy: fold if you do
not hit a set, jam the pot if you do. The only exception would be if you hit
a weird flop-like 5-5-2 or 6-6-6 (and you hold something like 7-7), then,
you probably hold the best hand and should jam the pot.
If you're heads up, it gets a little more complicated. If the flop is
primarily low cards, bet at it, since your opponent doesn’t have anything.
But, if the flop is A-J-Q, you're probably screwed. You can go ahead and bet
at it (maybe he has a low pocket pair too), but if you meet any resistance,
you’ve got to fold.
II. Flop bluffs
Flop bluffs are best for use against one or maybe two opponents. The method
is relatively easy. Imagine you raise it up pre-flop with K-Qs, and the flop
comes up A-9-5. Well, you don’t have anything - not even a flush draw. But,
they others may be in the same position as you. Go ahead and bet at it - who
knows? you might steal the pot right then and there.
If they just call you, you’re presented with a decision. Perhaps they have
an ace and a low kicker or even something like K-9. Whatever the case may
be, you're not winning. You should normally check and fold. Do this about
80% of the time. However, you don't want them have the ability to crack your
bluffing strategy just by calling you on the flop and watching what you do
on the turn.
Because of this, we recommend slowplaying occasionally. To illustrate,
suppose you have A-9 at the flop, bet at the flop, then check-raise at the
turn. Put differently: punish them for simply calling. People should never
be allowed to call with a second-best hand if they hope you are bluffing;
they should be made to raise to see where they are. If you have the
suspicion that they will just call you with the second-best hand, you should
bet until the river when you have the goods, but always just bet/check-fold
when you don't. Some situations call for bluffing on the turn too, though
rarely. You never know; you may hit and win it anyway.
III. Slowplaying
We don't suggest slowplaying very often because we prefer running flop
bluffs and flop bluffs are only successful if you actually bet with the
goods at the flop. Nevertheless, sometimes it's best to just wait and jam
the pot. In which case, we advise slowplaying in multi-way situations when
you really have the goods. For instance, if you have A-Q and the flop is
A-Q-3 and the turn is an ace, you're sitting pretty. Normally, you should
probably wait for a bet if you believe one will happen and then raise it. In
other words, slowplaying and jamming the pot on the turn can often be very
lucrative in multi-way pots, but we don't advise it in heads up situations.
Frequently, in heads up, you'll give your opponents a deadly free card and
it's not worth losing the pot for one more big bet.
Another thing to keep in mind about slowplaying is that it is successful
when you have a super boss hand and you want to let the other players
develop a hand that is solid but not rock-solid enough to beat yours.
Slowplaying a set when a flush draw is on board is stupid because you are
letting your opposition gather a hand that can beat yours. You have to think
to yourself, "What can they build that won't beat me but will still make
them bet so I can raise them?" Don't slowplay if you just have a good hand;
slowplay if you have a killer hand.
IV. Paired board and you have the third card
This is a dangerous situation. Let's say the board is Q-Q-A and you have
A-J. You may have the best hand or you may be screwed. However, the
situation is pretty basic: if it's checked around to you, check; besides,
what will people call you with? The only thing people will call you with
that can't beat you is A-7 or maybe a pocket pair (not many would call
though).
So, when you're in this trouble situation, you have to consider 2 factors:
1) What will people call you with that won't beat you and 2) what’s the
likelihood that they have the trip?
The higher the two cards, the greater the chance they have the trip. A-A-J
is much more frightening for someone with K-J than 4-4-J. We recommend
treating the first flop with caution and probably give it up pretty easily,
while the second one you should probably bet at.
That raises the question, "What does it mean to 'play it carefully'?"
If someone bets at you with the board A-A-J and you’ve got K-J, your
opponent may have Q-J, so you should go ahead and raise. Your opponent would
probably fold if he had Q-J, but he stay in probably if he held an ace.
This, naturally, brings up the argument: Don't they realize that you don't
have an ace if you raise? Good point. That's why you can't always slowplay
in these situations. If you have A-Q on that board, go ahead and raise too.
This way they can't predict what you’ve holding.
V. Playing against a CRAAZZY maniac
Maniacs can be a real nuisance in shorthand. Nonetheless, they are usually
best handled by simply calling (although it’s a good idea to raise them if
you hold a very strong hand). Maniacs will increase the variance of the
game, but you’ll win in the long run.
For example, during one game at the $100-$200 level at Intercasino, a member
of our staff remembers being dealt Q-Q, a solid hand by all accounts.
Someone called while the maniac at the table raised. Our guy re-raised and
the maniac capped, with one other standard player still in the pot. The flop
arrived A-K-4 which, of course, was the worst possible flop for our man.
Nevertheless, he went for it; the standard player folded and the maniac
raised again. Fortunately, our man had identified the maniac as a maniac
after watching him during a different round, and decided not to fold;
instead, he just checked or called all the way to the river. The maniac, it
turned out in the end, had a 3-5 hand.
VI. Don't pay them off
Sometimes, when people are on a flush draw and you have a top pair or a top
two pair, they’ll wait for you to bet so they can raise. If you think they
were on a flush draw and then the flush card hits on the river, don't pay
them off. Just check it on the river. Consider the math. If you are in
position and just check the river, you save yourself 2 big bets (4 total
bets). If it's a standard hand, there was probably a raise pre-flop and
bets-calls on the flop through turn. So you threw in a grand total of 5
bets. If you employ this technique, you truly economize about half of the
cash you otherwise would have lost.
Some quick DON'Ts of shorthand
-
Don't go in with any ace if someone else has already gone in. More likely
than not, they have either a decent pocket pair, an ace and a higher kicker,
or something along the lines of K-Q. Any of these hands will whip you.
-
Don't play above your bankroll. Even many poker experts have made this
mistake several far too often. Shorthand has a high level of variation. Make
sure you can bank many hours of play before sitting down. You don't want to
go in, have your aces smacked, and go home broke!
-
Don't just play your hand - always consider what the other player is
contemplating. While this may not be as important as in no-limit, you’ve got
to think about what the other player went in with and what he is using to
call and/or raise. Don't always count on the idea that he's bluffing because
most of the time he's probably is not.
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