previous page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

next page

1. Introduction

In this Article

• The difference between full ring and short-handed
  
• Open-raising charts for short-handed play
  
• How to deal with limpers
  
• Reacting to raises in front of you
  

A poker game is short-handed when it only has between 3 and 6 players. The strategy and the general approach compared to heads-up tables with two players, or full ring tables with more than 6 players, is significantly different. Especially compared to full ring tables, short-handed play is more aggressive and the swings more intense, but the winning opportunities increase as well, as short-handed tables are quite attractive to many bad players due to the action.

This article gives you a detailed overview of the changes in strategy which you have to keep in mind when switching from full ring to short-handed. You'll have a starting hands chart similar to the SHC at your disposal, the open-raising chart (ORC), on which you can orientate your game and give it the necessary aggression. Further charts give you a profitable line for different pre-flop situations, e.g. for the case in which there was a raise in front of you or players have limped.