Short Handed Play

Short Handed Play 3-4 handed

Very shorthanded play requires a different skill set than 10 handed play, the information you have gathered about each of the remaining opponents comes into play a lot more here because each opponent, yourself included, is involved in most of the hands when it's 3-4 handed. With 4 handed play, you are either under the gun, on the button, in the small blind or in the big blind; the information you have collected about your opponents should determine how you play against them individually, taking into account their style of play and level of experience if known.

The ratio of your chip stack in relation to the remaining players will also determine how aggressively you should be playing; the blinds pass through you so frequently that if you have a significantly smaller stack to all your opponents and the total sum of blinds is more than a fifth of your stack, you need just to pick a suitable hand and move all in with it, usually any ace or any pair would be sufficient, also any two face cards if severely shortstacked.

Because you are either under the gun, on the button or in one of the blinds, you will have to play more frequently than in a longhanded game, consequently your opponents are more likely to play with you, remember this when making positional plays like raising from the button, your opponents are more likely to suspect you are weak, especially as you are playing a greater percentage of your hands.

Many novicy players tend to make overplays when it becomes shorthanded to compensate for their skill disadvantage, they go all in pre flop to remove the chance of getting outplayed on the flop and beyond; this is a common bet sizing mistake. When choosing the size of bet to make in a very shorthanded game, if you have less than 5 times the sum of the blinds you don't have enough chips to make an intricate play at the pot; if you raise, a significant amount of your stack will already be comitted to the hand, going all in is acceptable in this situation.

If you have more than 10 times the sum of the blinds, your betting options are much greater, you might have enough chips to make a play and fold to subsequent pressure from an opponent; therefore making smaller sized raises is preferred to the all in move, leaving yourself options after the flop.

Understanding how the table is playing is vital, this will also determine the hands you choose to play and the way you play them, there's very little value in limping pre flop with average hands if it's likely an opponent will raise, you must either tighten up slightly or try to trap with a big hand occasionaly when limping. Knowing how your opponents are likely to react before they react is a huge edge, make sure to have paid attention throughout all stages of the game to give you an accurate estimation of this. Knowlegde is power.