How to play short-handed (with charts)
Introduction
In this article
- The difference between short-handed and full-ring poker
- The Open Raising Chart (ORC) and other charts
A poker game is considered short-handed when 3-6 players are dealt cards. The strategy and general approach to playing in such games is quite different from that in a heads up or a full-ring game.
Short-handed games are much more aggressive than full-ring games. Swings tend to be larger, since you play more hands. On the other hand, your chances of winning increase as well, since a lot of poor players are attracted to the heavy action found in short-handed games.
This article will give you a detailed overview of how your strategy should change when you switch from full-ring to short-handed play. You will also get new charts to help you find the right course of action before the flop.
DOWNLOADS
The ORC and additional pre-flop charts
How is short-handed play different?
Having fewer players at the table brings a number of changes to the game.
Having fewer players at the table means you have to post blinds more often, which means you can't sit and wait for a strong starting hand. You have to make more marginal decisions than in a full-ring game.
To extract more value from marginal hands, bluffs and semi-bluffs are more frequently played by both yourself and your opponents. This means that some hands, which would be too marginal for a full-ring game, have an increased value and this changes how you evaluate your hand on the flop. You have to learn to react in situations in which you miss the flop, but are still ahead with your hand.
There is an easy conclusion to be reached: since you have to post blinds more often, defending your blind becomes more important. If you aren't strong in blind defense situations, you should work on your game a bit before switching to short-handed play. Otherwise, you will miss out on (or even lose) a fair amount of value when you are in the Big Blind.
Since you have to play in more marginal situations and defend your blinds more often, you can expect to encounter larger swings. Losing 100 BBs is normal; losing 200 isn't that big of a deal either. You should give yourself a financial cushion before moving up a limit. Whereas you would wait until you have 300 BBs to move up a limit in full-ring play, you should have 500+ BBs before you move up a limit in short-handed play. You should also be mentally prepared for the downswings that will inevitably come your way.
Be sure to read the article on advanced bankroll management:
Go to the article: Bankroll management for advanced players
SH play does have its upsides. There are a lot of loose players that don't know how to show aggression at the right time. You also play more hands per hour, since playing a single hand doesn't take as long with only 6 players at the table. This means you earn more per hour, assuming you have the same win rate. And sometimes there's a practical side to it too: as you make your way up the limits, you will find fewer full-ring tables to play at.
You will often find yourself in a heads up situation on the flop. Two articles, one from the Bronze section and one from the Gold section can help you:
Standard lines against a single opponent
The ORC and other charts
This section will introduce you to the Open Raising Chart (ORC). This chart is the basic chart used for short-handed play and replaces the Starting Hands Chart and other pre-flop charts from the Bronze section.
Download all charts including the ORC as a PDF file
This chart identifies the following situations:
- You are first-in
- Players limp in before your turn
- One raise is made before your turn
- You are defending your Big Blind
- More than one raise was made before your turn
This is the most simple situation: you are first-in when everyone before you folds. Look at the "ORC - First-in" to find the right course of action.
This chart includes all hands that are, from a statistical point of view, profitable against the possible hands after you. You raise to increase an edge that you already have. Notice that you never open limp. If you are first-in, you either raise or fold.
The chart shows you all the hands you can play (or raise) from your position. Any time all opponents fold before you, you raise if your hand can be found in the chart. Note that the chart gives the weakest playable hand. When, for example, you want to look for the weakest playable A high hand and see AJ, you raise with AJ, AQ and AK.
Pre-flop: Hero is CO with Q
9
2 folds, Hero?
You look at the chart under the CO column. Find the row under "Suited Cards" and you see: Q8. This means you raise with any Q8 or better kicker. This includes Q9, so you raise.
The ORC includes the possibility of the hand after you being strong. This is why you can play more hands in a late position than in an early position.
As you've learned for some time now, you do not limp when you are first-in. The risk of getting raised and isolated by a better hand is much higher at a 6-player max table. You can imagine what this means for your implied odds.
If someone has already limped in by the time the action comes to you, you need to use the chart: "Against 1 limper." Once again, you'll be shown the weakest hands you can play in a given position. The chart also identifies situations with 1, 2 and 3 limpers.
It doesn't matter if you are in the Small Blind or not. You only have to pay half as much when you are, but the fact that you will be out of position (potentially against several opponents) counters any advantage this gives you.
If you are not in the Big Blind and 1 player limps in before you, you either raise or fold. The hands in this column are hands that give you an edge against possible hands after you, and also the hands found in your opponent's open limping range.
Pre-flop: Hero is BU with J
T
MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, Hero?
Look at the column for 1 limper and at the section for suited cards. Notice that you raise suited jack high hands with a 9 or better kicker. JT is good enough for a raise in this situation.
Once 2 or more players have limped in, you no longer follow the principle of raising or folding. You should still raise with strong hands, but should only call and see a cheap flop with marginal, but playable hands (small pair for set value or suited connectors).
This chart also identifies 2 and 3 limpers. There are two columns: one for hands you raise with and one for hands you call (over limp) with.
Pre-flop: Hero is SB with 6
6
MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, BU calls, Hero?
Start by looking at the raise column. The row "pairs" shows you 88, which is higher than your pocket sixes. You can't raise. It's time to look to the right to see if you can call. There you see 44. Your pocket sixes are better, so you complete.
If exactly one raise was made before your turn, there are a few charts you could look to. In general, the key question is whether or not you are in the Big Blind.
Important: The positions listed in these charts refer to the aggressor's position, not yours!
Two charts can help you in this situation. It doesn't matter whether the call was made before or after the raise (limp or cold call).
1 raise and 1 call
This chart shows you all the hands you can 3-bet with. Note that your actions only depend on a call when you have a pocket pair.
1 raise and at least 1 call
This chart shows you when you can call a raise.
Pre-flop: Hero is BU with A 5
2 folds, CO raises, Hero?
Look at the chart "Actions against 1 raiser (and 1 caller)" under the CO (no blind). Under offsuited cards you see A8, so you fold your A5.
Pre-flop: Hero is SB with T T
MP2 folds, MP3 raises, CO folds, BU calls, Hero?
Look at the chart "Actions against 1 raiser (and 1 caller)" under MP3 (SB). The BU called, so you look at the "with Call" column and see 99. You can 3-bet with TT.
Pre-flop: Hero is CO with Q J
MP2 raises, MP3 calls, Hero?
Look at the chart "Actions against 1 raiser (and 1 caller)" under MP2. There is only a "-" for the row with Q high suited hands. This means you need to look at the chart "Actions against 1 Raise and at least 1 Call". Here you see QTs, so you can call with Q J.
You will find yourself facing a single raise (without any calls) and sitting on the Small or Big Blind more often in short-handed games. You can use the charts we just mentioned when you are in the SB.
When you are in the BB, you have an advantage: you only have to pay 1 SB to call, which means you will usually be getting 3.5:1 pot odds (unless the SB raises). The disadvantage is: you will be out of position after the flop.
Considering that a raise in a SH game is usually made with a hand too weak to be found in the SHC, you can conclude that the range listed in the SHC is too tight to defend your blind. You would be giving up too much money without a fight.
If your opponent sees you folding your BB too often, he will raise with weak hands to steal your blinds, because he knows doing so will be profitable for him. Defending your blinds goes beyond the situation at hand. It's a way of telling your opponent: "this amount twice, before you try to steal my blind. It's not free for the taking".
The Blind Defense Chart is designed to help you in exactly this situation. Look at the right column for the aggressor's position, as this plays a key role. You then distinguish calling hands and raising (3-bet) hands. Take a look at the following examples:
Note: hands listed as x/x (for example 22/TT), give you the weakest hand for calling (22) and the weakest hand for 3-betting (TT).
Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 9 9
MP2 raises, 4 folds, Hero?
Look under MP2. You see 22/TT in the row for pairs. This means you can call with 22+ and raise with TT+. You therefore call with your 99.
Note: when hands are listed as .../A2, for example, you should either fold or 3-bet.
Pre-flop: Hero is BB with A 5
4 folds, SB raises, Hero?
Look at the rows for suited cards under the SB and you'll see .../A2. This means you don't call with a small suited ace... you 3-bet instead. You raise with A 5.
Note: when a hand is simply given as x, you do not 3-bet. This is the weakest hand you can call with.
Pre-flop: Hero is BB with J 5
3 folds, BU raises, SB folds, Hero?
Look at the rows for offsuited cards under the BU. Under jack high hands you see J8. This means you can call with a jack and an 8, or a better kicker. Your J5 is too weak, so you fold.
You may wonder why you should defend your blind with such weak hands. Two thoughts to keep in mind: you are getting 3.5:1 pot odds, so you don't have to win too often for your call to be profitable in a blind defense situation. Secondly, you should be well versed in playing heads up against a single opponent. You can learn more about playing in such situations in the following article:
Go to the article: Standard lines against a single opponent
You will have to get used to check/folding on the flop when you don't hit. This will happen often enough: you will hit a pair or draw and have a playable hand about 1 in 3 times.
Any time more than one raise is made before you, you will either raise again and cap, or fold. Your can find a list of hands to cap with, in the chart "Actions against raise and re-raise".
Pre-flop: Hero is SB with 7 7
MP2 raises, 2 folds, BU 3-bets, Hero?
This chart is pretty easy to read. You look in the row for pairs and see TT. 77 is too weak, so you fold.
Pre-flop: Hero is SB with J J
MP2 raises, MP3 folds, CO 3-bets, BU caps, Hero?
And this time? This isn't a simple raise, re-raise situation...
When the action is already capped and you are:
- Not in the Big Blind: you call with AKo, AKs, QQ+.
- In the Big Blind: you call with hands found in the raise, re-raise chart.
Tough as it is, you lay down your jacks.
Conclusion
You have to play more hands and see more flops when you are short-handed. You will tend to have weaker made hands after the flop, which means you will encounter greater variety and face more complicated situations. The good news is that you can make a higher profit, since your opponents will not be able to overcome these same problems as well as you can.
The charts in this article give you a good pre-flop foundation for playing short-handed. You should print them out and have them handy while playing. Your goal is to one day know them so well that you don't need to consult them to make the right decision.
In order to continue progressing, you need to get as much practice as you can and study all the learning material PokerStrategy.com offers you. This will help you as you learn to estimate what has so far been referred to as "possible hands your opponent could have."
Once again, a link to a .pdf file with all the charts:
Download the ORC and other charts
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