Making money playing short handed limit hold em.
I'm only talking about shorthanded limit hold em here, not NL. Some important points to beating the games. From the micros up to lower middle limits.
1. You have to play tightly. Just because the game is shorthanded this does not mean you can raise UTG with K8. You have to understand pre-flop concepts- not just memorize starting hand charts. An example would be a tight solid player raises UTG in a 6 handed game. You are next to act with AT off suit. You fold. You are very likely dominated by AK-AJ or a high pocket pair. You probably have in the neighborhood of 3 outs. Now, reverse the situation, a maniac who is raising 40%+ of his hands in the same position makes the same open raise. Now you 3 bet and try to isolate him. You are going to showdown unless it comes down really bad. Over time, getting your money in with better hands than your opponents will show a profit. Calling raises with A7 will drain your bankroll. A very important point in short handed limit hold em is to
NEVER OPEN LIMP. If you are going to play pre-flop then raise. This is the most important thing to remember about short handed poker.
2. If a hand is worth calling it is worth betting or raising. If you can't play your hand aggressively then don't play. You must play aggressively particularly when the pot is heads up or 3 handed. Multi way you just can't make too many moves because someone has a hand but you
can bet and raise strong draws for value. In a
5 way pot with the nut flush draw and overcards for example, just cap it. You are
at least 35% to win and are only contributing 20% of the money. You are making money with every additional bet that goes into the pot. Play strong draws like made hands. Don't just check call your draws because by doing that you only have one way to win. If you are applying pressure you can often win pots through sheer aggression but you must pick your spots.
3. Protect your hand always. Top pair top kicker is not a hand you can slowplay, it is vulnerable. Bet and raise to make the draws play. In general if you have a hand bet it. In a way this is more deceptive than trying to trap. For example if you bet straight out when you flop quads, a lot of players will assume you are just trying to steal by representing trips. A lot of them will call you down with A high or worse. Just pound away! When you flop 879 and you are holding something like 87 you must bet and raise immediately. This is not a hand to try and trap people with like some stupid fish will. Any 5, 6, T, J etc probably spells doom and will leave you drawing to a 4 outer. In general I recommend almost
NEVER slow playing. You need at least a full house to consider doing this and even then you are probably better off pounding away. Never slow play a hand like AK on a board of JTQ. This is a huge mistake. Highly likely your hand could be counterfeited or even overtaken by a 2 pair hand like JT that fills up on the turn or river.
4. Defend your blinds. Especially your big blind. In short handed games people are constantly raising and attacking your blinds. If you keep folding you are giving up too much. Cut off and button raises in short handed games should not be respected too much. Of course this is player dependent. If a guy is raising for the first time in 50 hands then get out of the way but in general defend your big blind against a steal raise with any connectors 76 or higher, any two suited cards that could make a straight- 73s, 84s, T6s etc, any face card with a kicker of 6 or 7 or higher, any suited face card (maybe not J2 or J3 but definitely J6s or higher), any suited ace, any pair and that should do just about do it. Never defend your blind from an early position raiser with weak aces like A2. If they are suited you should be ok but if an ace flops do not play aggressively, just call down heads up and multi way if there is any serious heat just get out of the way. Remember you are better off defending with something like 98 off suit than something like A3 because both your cards are probably live whereas with the ace, domination is a real concern. From the small blind play tighter and if you are going to defend against a button raise you are better off 3 betting than just calling. Try and get it head up by driving out the big blind. If you just call the big blind is getting 5:1 and is correct to call the raise with almost anything reasonable. If it is folded around to an aggressive small blind who will raise your big blind every time it is heads up then you should defend with almost every hand. You are getting 3:1 and have position on him. Only throw away your absolute worst hands like 72,62 etc.
5. Use your position. Position is one of the most important hold em concepts. Tend to play more hands when your position is good and play very tightly out of position. An example of using your position: It's folded around to the small blind who open limps and you are in the big blind with 83s. You check. Flop comes KT3. The small blind checks- BET! His check usually indicates weakness. If you get check raised then he was trapping but don't always assume the worst. Take down the pots that no one else wants! However don't overdo it. If you start betting every time you are checked to the better players will quickly observe this tendency and start check raising you constantly.
6. Know your players. Carefully observe every players tendencies. Keep note of how many flops they see, whether they are passive or aggressive, how often they raise, how willing they are to defend their blinds, if they tend to cold call raises etc. There are so many things to watch for that they can't all be listed. Who are the guys that bet every flop? Who likes to donk bet and who likes to check raise? Who tries fancy plays like
bluff check raises on the turn. Who plays their weak hands and draws aggressively but starts treading on egg shells when he flops a monster? (An aggressive lunatic caps pre-flop and then checks the flop when it comes down AAK- don't fall for this stupid trap, just check along and fold to a bet. He would have been much better off doing what he
usually does in this situation which is just betting. He would be more likely to get paid off that way because people just think he's
bluffing again). A program like Poker Office is a huge help in achieving accurate reads on players, especially when you are multi tabling.
7. Fold when you know you are beat but do it early and don't make big laydowns on the river. You know when you are beaten but you call down anyway. Stop doing this. A turn check raise from a fish on a board of 773 means he has at least trips. Your AK is no good- give it up. Having said that, never make big laydowns on the river. If you have a reasonable chance to win and you are there then call. There is nothing worse than making a big laydown on the river and seeing that you were actually the winner with your middle pair. Many times I have folded say AQ to a strange donk bet on the river from a guy who has just check called me down assuming he must have at least a weak pair. He has flipped over J6 and I have ripped my hair out. Heads up it doesn't take a big hand to win. It is just as hard for your opponents to make a hand as it is for you. Again though, know your opponent. Every player is different. Know what their bets mean.
8. Make sure you are adequately bankrolled. For shorthanded limit hold em I recommend a minimum of 500 big bets. 1000 is better and probably ideal but I understand some people think that is being too conservative. Understand that 100+bb downswings are very common in this form of poker and if you have a 300bb bankroll you will be dropping limits very soon. Don't panic if you go on a big downer. Just keep playing your A game and things will turn around. You have to believe that.
Anyway, just a few pointers for people who want to try making money playing limit hold em online. Take what you will and disregard the rest!
