Quite a few Absolute Poker Download players have begun moving to the short handed cash game tables instead of playing the regular full ring table game. In a short handed poker game there is only six seats for players so you need to adapt your strategy so that you can compete. If you use the same strategy that you were using on a full ring table game then you’re not going to do very well. I’ve compiled the most comprehensive tips for beginners who are making the switch from a full ring game to a short handed game. Often when players make the move they will forget to change simple aspects of their game, but this article was written to help all of you make the transition smoother.
* You will need to re-analyze your starting hand selection first when you make the move to a short handed game. You will need to play a wider selection of hands on a table with fewer players because the values of the hands go up. Since there are only six players with cards the likelihood of someone holding a monster hand is lower then if we were comparing it to a table with nine players.
* Since there are only six players a lot of the game will be bluffing and determining when you’re being bluffed out. A lot of pots nobody is going to hit which means if you bet first you will often win the pot. In hands when the board isn’t very threatening you will often find players throw out a bluff bet to see if they can take it down. If you can spot these bets then you should re-raise the player as they will often fold.
* The blinds will be coming around a lot quicker on a short handed table so you need to make sure that you’re playing enough hands and not playing to tight. Its one thing to be conservative, but you also need to steal the odd blinds when you aren’t being dealt anything. If you haven’t played any hands for a little bit then when you raise the pot to steal the blinds you should have enough respect that everyone folds. If you aren’t willing to bluff and steal blinds then you aren’t going to stand a chance at the short handed tables.
* Often the players who play short handed tables regularly are very loose so you need to make sure you’re fairly loose as well, but within moderation. You need to try and see a lot of flops so you have the potential of hitting and taking down some pots. A lot of pots will be raised so you need to be willing to call some raises and not be afraid to play.
Short handed poker can be quite profitable since there will be action for you to find, but you need to be careful at the same time because it can be a dangerous game. You can practice playing free poker short handed on PokerStars or FullTiltPoker any day of the week. Often you will not be able to get a read from your opponent when they have a monster hand in a short handed game and this can be one downfall. Since you don’t expect full houses or nut flushes to be dealt every hand you can easily get trapped into big hands if you’re not careful.
Another popular poker rakeback tournament structure that has been popping up all over the online poker rooms lately are double-up tournaments. In these tournaments you will typically play with 9 other players on the table, and the top five players will make money in the event. For instance, if 10 players pay $10+$1 to enter into a double-up tournament you will only need to play until there are five players left in the tournament since the top five players will make $20. These tournaments aren’t suitable for everyone because you will need to be very patient.
Since you only need to finish in the top five you don’t necessarily need to even make any huge moves in the tournament to win money. If the other players are aggressive then they will eventually knock each other out of the tournament which will usually allow you to fly under the radar in fifth place. The only time you really want to play any hands in double-up tournaments is when you have a high pocket pair or when you have a premium drawing hand. There is no need to play any small pocket pairs or low suited connectors because the likelihood of winning the pot isn’t high enough to warrant any action on your side.
You only need to wait for one good hand in a double-up tournament in order to make the money so make sure you don’t risk your tournament life on a coin flip. The worst thing you could do is go all-in with a low pocket pair and end up being against an A/K because you’ll often lose. You want to wait until you have a nut straight or flush until you move your chips all-in in these tournaments. There is no need to make any unneeded risks unless you’re the short stack in the tournament. As long as you aren’t the short stack then you don’t need to worry about making a stand.
If you are the short stack in a double-up poker tournament then you’re often going to need to start making some moves because nobody else is going to do your job. You will need to begin going all-in with marginal hands and hope that you can double-up once or twice depending on your situation. You will typically be called when you’re the short stack because the chip leaders want players gone so make sure you don’t have a complete junk hand. Always try to have at least suited connectors as a minimum when you make an all-in stand.
If you win some big pots early in a double-up tournament you can’t let it get to your head. Often players will begin pushing the table around and it won’t work this early in the tournament. You should just sit tight with your chips and wait out some of the action. You can usually win these tournaments by sitting out after doubling up once so don’t be anxious to play in pots as it’s often wiser to not play in pots. Generally the tighter poker player you are the better you’ll do in double-up tournaments.
One of the newest tournament structures that is being offered by most of the online poker rooms is a bounty tournament. A bounty tournament can be played two different ways including the first way where 100% of the buy-in goes towards the bounty and the second way where 50% of the buy-in goes towards the bounty with the rest of the buy-in going towards a prize pool. You will need to decide whether or not you want to play in a PKR Rakeback tournament with a prize pool or without a prize pool. I find that the tournaments without a prize pool are better because you will win the most for knocking out opponents.
In order to win the bounty off one of the players on your table you need to knock them out of the tournament. In the tournaments without any prize pool you will find that most players will go all-in fairly often when they have a hand. The best way to win money in these tournaments is by waiting for premium hands only. If you’re dealt a high pocket pair such as A’s, K’s or Q’s then I would try to get your chips into the pot before the flop. If you have a premium drawing hand such as A/K suited then you will want to make sure that you keep the pot as low as possible until you see if you hit.
You also want to make sure that you don’t play a lot of marginal hands in the beginning of these Ultimate Bet Rakeback tournaments because it can often end up biting you in the back, down the road in the tournament. For instance, if you call a 100 chip raise preflop with a small pocket pair the first hand and then fold on the flop you’re going to have 100 less chips then everyone. This means that if you end up getting into an all-in hand with another player within the next few hands you won’t be able to knock the player out. You will have less chips then the other player and although you will double up your chips you won’t make any money because you didn’t knock out the player.
You need to always try and have more chips then most of your opponents in bounty tournaments so that you will have them covered on an all-in bet. Often when you’re one of the chip leaders you will be able to push the smaller stacks around because they won’t want to risk their tournament life unless they have a premium hand. This will allow you build up your chip stack, but more importantly it will chop away at the other player’s stacks. This will mean that when the other players do decide to make a stand they will have less chips and it will be less likely to hurt your stack if you call.
Bounty tournaments are fun for those players who like lots of action. They often don’t take that long to finish because players will usually go all-in every time they have a good hand. If you’re good at reading opponents and you aren’t scared of calling big bets then you should try playing some bounty tournaments to see how profitable they are for you.
There’s a long list of things you can throw out there where the answer would be, “What’s the point in doing that?” You know when the answer to something is a question, it’s rhetorical to begin with. After recent play, I can definitively conclude that trying to bluff in a low-stakes, limit game of Hold ‘Em is not only pointless, but it’s counterproductive. And I’ll explain what I mean right now.
First off, virtually nobody at the $1/$2 or $2/$4 games on Party Poker is there to read you and take your car payment. They’re probably there because they’re bored or wanted to get close to the big screen TV’s playing golf without having to cram in at the bar. These people are usually just like you. They think they know poker enough to “compete,” but aren’t interested in really gambling at one of the riskier tables. Not a big deal, nothing wrong with that. But if you know that, you should know nobody cares if you’re trying to bluff. Nobody is getting scared off by a $4 bet in an actual casino. It ain’t happening. You’re wasting your effort.
Now here’s why this is counterproductive. Since you know nobody is dropping out from a power move (if they do fold mid-hand, it probably just took them long enough to realize they’re hand sucks and/or they didn’t catch what they wanted on the turn), the only thing you really do by trying to bluff is add more money to a pot you’re eventually going to lose. If you do the simple math for a full table of nine, odds are the blinds are going to stay in, and at least one other person besides you…which is still less than half the table. After the flop, maybe one will drop out, leaving you still with three opponents to beat with your rags. Like I said, it ain’t going to happen. And in the end, you just feed your money into someone else’s chip stack.
Betting strong is fine, if you at least have a high pair or something you can sneak in and win with…or if you start with a bluff but are playing to a straight or flush, at least there’s hope, but don’t try to bully players at a low-limit game. You’ll probably just get yourself booed off the table.