NLHE Shorthanded pre-flop strategy

[tewall]

3 players. Avg. stack size 500. Blinds 10 and 20. I'm looking for a pre-flop strategy. On the button I like bringing it in for 80, but with which hands? 80 is a good amount? What are good hands to defend the blinds with in this structure? All comments welcome.

[ML4L]

Hey tewall,

A couple of points; first, it will be VERY tough for someone to give you a good answer because it depends completely on the tendencies of your opponents and how well you play postflop. Secondly, putting that issue aside, I would recommend playing (both raising and calling) a TON of hands with that blind structure. Stacks of 25xBB put stealing at a premium, and there should be a LOT of pre-flop and flop action. So, my best advice is that you should play very aggressively, because the odds are that your opponents will not adjust enough to the shorthandedness and blind structure. Specific hands? Maybe raise all the way down to any king, connectors down to 76, all suited gappers, and Qx suited? Defend any ace, connectors to 98, suited gappers to 64s, and Kx suited?

Not the best advice I've ever given, but hopefully it's a starting point and you'll get a feel for what works best for you...

ML4L

[tewall]