13 Common Mistakes Made by Losers Playing Shorthanded Holdem Poker

When there are less than about 6 players at a table, it’s called a Shorthanded game. You will find yourself in this situation when playing in elimination tournaments, but you may also find yourself at a shorthanded table playing ring games as well.

If you’re a loser (which you almost certainly are), you are probably playing shorthanded Holdem games wrong. Most losers will play the same way in shorthanded games as they do in full games. This doesn’t work, unless your full game strategy is wrong to begin with… Others go by the general advice of “be more aggressive” but end up being too aggressive, not taking into account their position, etc.

Here are some common mistakes made every day by losers like you. Keep these in mind the next time you find yourself at a shorthanded table. Warning: This is a really long, verbose article. If you are used to finding garbage poker sites with crap information, this might seem really long to you. Stick with it, even if you have the attention span of a goldfish, because you will learn how to play Poker better. And after that, sign up to our newsletter, add our RSS feed, and follow me on Twitter. You will become a better person for it, and your offspring will thank you for it later.

1) Playing too many hands in weak positions

Generally, you will want to play more hands when there are fewer players, as there is less of a chance of someone having a better hand than you. However, you can’t be too loose, especially when  you are in a weak position. If you haven’t yet, be sure to read my 3 part guide on positions in Texas holdem poker. If you don’t know what the terms “Under The Gun” and “Small Blind” mean, then you better go back and start from the basics.

Here are some examples of some marginal plays that on the surface might seem like good ideas:

a) Under The Gun with K♥ 10♣

You might be tempted to raise here, but from this position that would be a far too loose-aggressive type of play. Players that act after you will probably re-raise you with any Ace with high card, mid-high pairs, and high suited connectors. Your KTo wouldn’t do well against those re-raising hands. This type of hand can be raised if you are in a later position, since there will be a lesser chance of someone re-raising you.

b) Small Blind, calling a raise with J♦ 10♠

Again, too loose. I’ll talk more about calling raises in the SB position later in this article.

c) On The Button, calling a raise with A♠ 4♦

The first problem with this play is that it will be dominated by any other hand with an Ace (which will often explain why they open-raised to begin with). Secondly, even if nobody else has an Ace, you won’t get much action if an Ace comes on the Flop.

2) Throwing away too many hands in shorthanded games

Sometimes people will play the same way shorthanded as they do in full games, which means they are playing too tight in shorthanded games. Keep some of these examples in mind next time you are in a shorthanded game (these would be considered too loose in full games):

a) In the Big Blind, call a raise by an early position player with Q♥ 10♦

QTo would be often dominated by early raisers in a full game, but when there are 5 or fewer players, people are usually raising with more hands so this is a good play shorthanded.

b) On The Button, reraise an early position player with A♣ J♦

In full games, you will probably want to fold your AJo against an early position raise. In fact, even AQo should be folded if you’ve noticed that the raiser is particularly tight. But in shorthanded games, everyone is more aggressive and will open-raise with a wider variety of hands. AJo would do well against hands people are open-raising with in shorthanded games.

3) Being too predictable

In any poker game, you want to be unpredictable to your opponents, and you want them to be predictable to you. This is tough to manage in full games, because unpredictable play usually just means you suck at poker, especially in the early position. In shorthanded games, you have many more chances to be unpredictable and still play well. Here are two specific positions where you still have to play predictably pre-Flop:

a) Under The Gun in a game with 5 or fewer players. You should play predictably here, because there are still two more non-blind hands that act after you. This means there is still a good chance that one of them may have a good hand. This is similar to raising from an early position in full games – you can’t raise too often from here without quality cards. Being unpredictable in this situation will cost you too much, because you will often be playing poor hands from a bad position.

b) In the Small Blind. In this position, you should be folding unless you have a killer hand like AA or KK (in which case you should always raise). SB is a terrible position to play unpredictably from, as you will always have the worst position.

Here are the seats where you can gain the most by playing unpredictably:

a) In the Big Blind, you should call raises more than you would in full games. Being the last to act, you can look out for situations like when there is only one raise and everyone else folds to you. Feel free to call or re-raise with hands like AK, AQ, and pairs. This means you will be more unpredictable after the Flop.

b) On The Button can raise more often, because you will be folded to more often than you would in a full game. If the player to your left is not a complete moron, he will be folding a lot as the Small Blind. Also keep an eye on the player two places to your left; if he is too passive as the Big Blind, it will be very easy to steal the blinds with a pre-Flop raise On The Button.

You should also try to play unpredictable after the Flop as well. Here’s a situation for you to consider, including different examples of how you should play:

Situation: You are in Early Position. Hand varies (below)

The Flop: J♦ 7♣ 6♣

You should check raise with:

-Any hand with a J
-Any hand with a 7
-Any hand with a Straight draw, such as T8 or 98
-Any hand with a Flush draw, such as Q♣ 4♣

Check-raising with these hands will make you seem more unpredictable to your opponents; if someone had raised pre-Flop with a hand such as A♥ 5♦ or K♣ 10♠ he will have a tough time calling you, even though he may be ahead. If he does call on the Flop, he may fold on the Turn if his hand doesn’t improve.

Also, if you have a Flush or Straight draw, or top pair on the Flop and are in late position, always raise so that your opponent will not be able to predict your play as much.

4) Calling instead of Folding or Raising

If you are in the habit of limping into the pre-Flop round, even during Shorthanded games, you are incredibly easy to pick out as a loser. If you’re UTG in a 5-handed game and are deciding what to do, there are only two choices: fold or raise. There aren’t too many hands that are worth limping in with in a Full-handed game, and there are even less when playing Short-handed. Most losers have problems in this situation with hands like JTo or 87s. Losers will constantly lose their money to people like me with these hands, so they know they are winning hands. But then they start thinking to themselves that they really need to hit the flop to keep playing with them.. But then they are winning cards so what do they do? They just limp in.

Taking a look at T9s, it might be justifiable to limp in early position with this hand, if you expect others to call as well – this gives you a multiple-player pot to win. Call during shorthanded games though, and there will usually be someone raising behind you, or they’ll all fold to the blinds. In either case, there are no longer enough players for this hand to be worth playing on, so you should fold it. Calling is a mistake, because it will most likely be just you and the BB.

Say you drew ATo. It’s not a great hand, as it is dominated by AK, AQ, and AJ. However, in a shorthanded game with 6 or less players, it is strong enough to play. And in this case, you want to play it with as few players as possible, since draws will lessen your chance of winning. That means raising is better than calling with this kind of hand.

5) Folding too many hands

As I have mentioned before on this site, I definitely favour tight play early on in full-handed games. It can be useful in shorthanded games as well, but not under the same circumstances. The key is to know when and how to adjust your playing style; you should never throw away medium to high pocket pairs without good reason. And an overcard (or even two) on the board is not a good enough reason in itself.

a) In the Big Blind in a 4-handed game with 10♠ 8♦

The button decides to open-raise, causing the SB to fold. You might consider this to be an auto-fold, as it often is in full-handed games. But if you play well post-Flop, you are at least getting good enough odds to see the Flop. If the other guy has something like Q7, your odds are decent enough to make the call.

b) In Early Position with J♥ J♣ in a 5-handed game.

You raised pre-flop, and the Button (an average player) and BB (someone who reads this awesome site and knows WTF they’re doing) both call.

Flop: A♠ 10♣ 7♦

The big blind checks, and you bet. Button folds, and BB calls:

Turn: 3♦

BB checks, and you bet. Then suddenly he check raises you. I already know what you’re thinking (you’re so predictable!): That he definitely has an Ace, so you better fold. In fact, he could very well be holding something like J♦ 10♦, and picked up a flush draw along with his pair of 10’s. Keeping in mind that players like this, who are comfortable playing in Short-handed games, are way more aggressive and tricky than usual, you must adjust your play accordingly. In this case, calling his bet is a good decision, while it may not be such a great idea in a full-handed game.

6) Being too passive at the wrong time

Since Short-handed games call for more aggressive play, the average hand is not as strong as an average hand in a Full-handed game. Some hands become more valuable than others, and can be played more aggressively shorthanded. Here are some cases for more aggressive play:

1) If you have a good hand, you want to get more money into the pot, so you can win more. Since everyone else should be looser and more aggressive, they will be calling bets and raises with lesser hands. So don’t be afraid of betting or raising when you think you have the best hand, since the others will be more likely to stick around longer.

2) If you have a good hand that may be vulnerable to draws. In this case, you want the others to fold. IE: If you have top-pair when the board is 10-7-4, you may have the best hand now, but your hand is susceptible to overcards.

3) If you need to instill fear into other players, so you have credibility when you bluff or semi-bluff. This is important because you will have way more chances to bluff in short-handed games. You need to make sure your opponents can’t tell whether you made a hand; if they can’t tell, they can easily make mistakes.

a) You hold A♠ 3♣ in a 4-handed game. You open-raise and both blinds call

Flop: A♣ 7♦ 6♠

They both check, and you bet. They both call.

Turn: 8♥

They both check again – but don’t be afraid if one of them check-raises – keep on betting. If they have a 5 or 9, they’ll want to see if they can make a Straight on the River for free. Don’t let them! Although you wouldn’t want to go up against a hand like 98, you still don’t want to give him a free chance to win the pot.

Usually, you might want to check here, with the intention of calling a bluff on the River. However, the best time to bluff is when your opponent has few outs, and will likely fold if you bet on the Turn. In this case, most aggressive players will call for a straight draw (and some might even call with an inside straight draw). So you want to bet on the Turn, since you are going to get called anyway.

7) Being too aggressive at the wrong time

Semi-Bluffing can be a powerful strategy when used at the right time, against the right opponent. What makes an opponent the right one for bluffing? He has to be willing to fold at least once with a made hand when you raise. You want to break out a semi-bluff when the board looks scary for your him. But if there is no way he’ll fold, a semi-bluff is a bad idea. As I have said many times now, players in shorthanded games will be more aggressive than usual, and some of them will rarely lay down a hand, no matter how bad it is. You’ll see people calling with A-high or bottom-pair, seemingly with no regard for what’s on the board. Against these morons, semi-bluffing or bluffing is useless, since they won’t fold anyway. You should still be aggressive against them, but only when you think you are ahead, and you should bet for value. This obviously relates to full-handed games as well, but I put it here because people tend to semi-bluff more often in short-handed games, which increases your chances of trying it on a “calling station”.

8) Not Checking

As I mentioned earlier, Shorthanded poker decisions usually come down to folding or raising. But sometimes, checking can be useful too, especially when your opponents are playing too aggressively. There are times when you don’t want to fold, because you may have the best hand – but a raise can be a bad idea when you end up driving out other players who would otherwise limp in and bet against you in the next round. Here’s an example:

a) Your hand: K♠ J♣

Flop: A♦ K♣ 4♥

Both blinds check to you, and you bet. The SB folds, and the BB calls. Since BB called, you can guess that he has an A with a mediocre kicker, or K with a worse kicker than you, or possibly is going for an inside straight draw.

Turn: 6♥

BB checks. If he is going for a straight draw, then he only has 4 outs. If you bet here and he calls, you would know that he would be making a bad call (since he does not have pot odds). Some people will automatically call with an inside straight draw in this scenario (usually without even knowing whether they have pot odds or not). Against those losers, you should bet again to sucker him in some more. However, those who are aware of their odds will be willing to dump their straight draw on the Turn. Against this type of player, Checking is the correct move after his Check. Give him some time to think about winning the hand, even if he doesn’t hit his straight on the River. By showing some weakness in this case, you are letting him think that you do not have a strong hand either, and you might fold on the River if he bets. If you were to raise instead, he would just fold. So if he doesn’t have an A, and hasn’t hit a straight yet, you could induce him to bluff on the River and win a bet that you otherwise would have missed out on.

But what if he has an A with a good kicker? Maybe he has A6, and made two pair on the Turn. Maybe the Flop gave him two pair, or a pair of A’s with a good kicker. In any of those cases, he knows there is a good chance that you’ll bet on the Turn, since you raised pre-Flop and bet on the Flop. If he’s any good, he’ll set  you up for a check-raise on the Turn. If he does have one of those hands, you do not want to bet and get check-raised, because you’ll be forced to fold your own hand (which is the correct play at that point). Instead, you would much rather check, and just hope that you give him a bad beat on the River with triple K’s.

So be sure to keep Checking in mind, considering it a ’stealth weapon’ against better players who will try to steal if they see any weakness. Do not use it against mindless callers, as you’ll just be preventing them from calling when you have the best hand (against those losers, you want to bet on the Turn, and then check on the River). If you are too aggressive, betting constantly until someone raises, you’ll just miss out on great opportunity in hands like this.

9) Calling all the way to the River with A-high

If you have just an A with a crap kicker, you will usually want to just keep calling, but sometimes it isn’t the right play. Losers like you will play an A all the way to the River, without considering anything else. They’ll see so many crap hands win, and see some A-high hands win, so they’ll automatically think they should keep calling down to the River with an A, regardless of whatever else is going on with the other players. Sometimes this IS the right strategy, sometimes it isn’t. What I am trying to explain is that you can’t do it indiscriminately.

Here are some examples of when calling down with an A-high is NOT the right thing to do:

a) Your hand: A♥ 6♣

Board: K♦ Q♣ 9♥
Turn: 8♠
River: 3♦

In this case, there is really no reason to assume the other player is bluffing. Trying to call him down on a bluff with board like this is just plain stupid. In fact, you shouldn’t have even called on the Flop. Loser.

b) You are in the BB with 2 other players
Your hand: A♥ 6♣

Board: 3♠ 4♦ 5♥
Turn: K♠
River: J♣

SB checks to  you on the River, and you check as well. The Button bets, and SB calls. In this case, you fold. The only way you could hope to win this hand is if the Button bluffed AND the SB called with a hand that can’t beat your A6. What do you think the odds are of that happening? You might beat the bluffer, but you probably wouldn’t beat the SB’s call.

And here are some examples of when you DO want to call with your A-high:

a) Your hand: A♥ 6♣

Board: 3♠ 4♦ 5♥
Turn: 10♠
River: 8♣

There are 4 other players. Your opponent is on the cutoff, and has raised pre-Flop. In this case, it is less likely that he has a pair here, with no high cards on board. Since you had a straight draw and an Ace, it was the right move to stick around on the Flop and Turn, although raising might be smart as well. What you really need to figure out is whether your opponent would try to make a value bet with AK or AQ on the River. If he has something like K9 or QJ, he might keep betting, hoping you would fold an A. Calling here would be a wise choice against more aggressive players.

b) Your hand: A♣ 6♣

Board: 9♣ 9♠ 5♣
Turn: 10♥
River: 10♦

Someone in the late position raised pre-Flop, and you called in with your A6s. This is an easy call to make – the only way someone will beat you is if they have a 9, 10, or a high pair – you’ll beat any hand with a pair lower than 9’s. In other words, it is totally worthwhile to call here. You’ll probably end up either splitting the pot, or winning it outright.

10) Calling too often

In an aggressive shorthanded game, you will find yourself getting raised, semi-bluffed, check-raised, and bluffed. A lot. Sometimes it is right to call them down; a) When you have the best hand, and b) when you want to show strength, making your opponents aware that you will not fold easily, and will call their semi-bluffs. But sometimes it is better to fold, because there may be a good chance that you do not have the best hand, or could possibly fall behind at some point. Here are some examples:

a) Someone in the late position raises you:

You raised pre-Flop from the cutoff in a 5-handed game, with A♣ 6♣. An average player calls you on the Button, as does the BB.

Your hand: A♣ 6♣
Flop: K♠ Q♥ 4♦

BB checks, and you bet, trying to steal the pot. The Button raises, and BB calls. In this case, you will want to fold. Even an idiot like you should be able to see the possibilities by now: Either one of them could have a pair of K’s or a pair of Q’s, or a straight draw. Since they raised and called, it is unlikely that they are both hoping for a draw. Even if that were the case, you would have to hit an Ace on the Turn. But if one of them is holding JT, your Ace also completes their straight. So when two players are in on the Flop, fold.

b) Someone bets on the Flop, after re-raising you pre-Flop

You are the Button, and tried to steal the blinds against a couple weak players by open raising. A decent player in the SB re-raises. BB folds, and you call:

Your hand: J♣ 9♣
Flop: A♠ 3♥ 3♣

SB bets, and what do you do? You fold, moron! Even with decent odds, and only have 6 outs to win. Definitely not enough in this case.

c) Someone bets on the Flop when you raised pre-Flop

You are in the cutoff position, and open-raise. Both blinds call:

Your hand: K♣ J♦
Flop: A♠ 9♥ 9♠

SB bets, and BB calls. And you fold. The only thing you could hope for here is that they are both going for a Spade flush draw – not very likely. If you are not beaten already,  you can easily be outdrawn at this point. If there was only one opponent, you might consider calling if he is prone bluffing or going for a flush draw, but since there are two players, get out of this hand.

11) Calling raises in the Small Blind

I discussed how to play in the Small Blind position before, and it is worth going over here, in terms of shorthanded play. Calling raises while in SB is a stupid mistake when there are no other callers to a raise before your turn. If there is just one raise, then your decision is to either re-raise, or fold, and that’s it. If you call, you are giving the Big Blind great pot odds to call as well. this means that the BB is going to call with just about any decent hand. And by calling, you will be in a shitty position for the rest of the hand, with 2 players behind you. So you will have to get used to folding hands like J9s, A2s, and KTo. If you do have a playable hand, you will want to take the pot-odds away from the Big Blind by re-raising. This will also make you look strong going into the Flop, against pot-stealers.

If there is only one raiser, and nobody else called, you should not call. If you’re a loser (face it, loser), you are probably used to automatically calling in spots like this, only giving the edge to the Big Blind beside you. I love sitting to the left of players like this, it’s a great spot to be. Keep an eye out for these habitual callers sitting in the Small Blind.

12) Not adjusting to the game properly

Not all Shorthanded games play the same. Some will feel no different from a full game. This will happen when people are trying to take it easy, playing very tight, or are just not used to shorthanded play. Other times, games will go very fast, with plenty of raises and re-raises. In these games, you’ll often see pre-Flop rounds get 3 bets or more. This means huge pots even before the Flop, so raising and semi-bluffing in later rounds becomes even more important. If anyone folds, everyone else benefits from greater equity. In slower, more passive games, semi-bluffs will need to work more often than not for them to be worthwhile, since the pots will be smaller.

When the game is going fast, and the mood is more aggressive, semi-bluffing and raising are more useful strategies, because the pots will be bigger. When the game is slower and more passive, you will want to adjust accordingly, and play more conservatively, stealing on occasion. Better players will have the ability to control games to play how they want. For example if you want a more aggressive game, you can start trash talking and tilting players. Sure enough, the game opens up eventually, if the opponents are the type who are susceptible to tilting (and this is more common than you’d expect).

13) Playing 3-handed games like you would play 6-handed games

By now, you hopefully have realized that games and positional strategies change depending on how many players are involved. 6-handed games play different from 3-handed games (in fact, 6-handed games are more like full tables than they are 3-handed games). In a 3-handed game, every player is essentially involved in every hand. This means that any weaknesses become magnified. If you are skilled enough, you will learn your opponents’ weaknesses, and take advantages of them more and more as tables get shorter. Another thing is greatly magnified in very shorthanded games: Luck.