for the starting hands geniuses out there

When I am playing short handed, what should the standard be for my starting hands? On one hand, there are less opponents, so the pot will often NOT justify playing anything but fairly big cards and big suited connectors. On the other, hand, I also have less opponents, so I have less opponents to beat. Any ideas? And/or are there any books that address this which starting hands are good in a short-handed situation?

Well, that's an interesting question. I'm inclined to believe you can lower your standards somewhat (but I'm no expert).


A quick review of the advisor profiles in Turbo show that before the flop, in late position with no callers the less people in the pot or the closer you are to the button ... the less stringent your hand requirements are.


This is of course also due to position, but consider playing on the button with no callers - this would be a small field indeed, and you could play a lot of hands here.

Big cards and pairs go up in value. Hands like AT and AJ are monsters when playing 5-way or less. However, you should be somewhat cautious when playing hands where you are either a small favorite or a big dog. A-baby for example (A3 or so) can leave you in a bad shape if you face another ace while you're not a huge favourite over basically any other two cards.


My style is very aggressive and I'm not sure that my starting hands are suitable for everyone. Anyway, here goes. Assuming 5-handed and that noone has entered the pot I'll raise AA-22, AK-A9o, AK-A2s, KQ-K9o, KQ-K2s, QJ-Q9o, QJ-Q8s, JT-J8o, JT-J8s, T9-T8s, 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s. Sometimes I add random suited rags. Obviously this isn't any hard and solid rule. I'll raise more vs some players and less vs others. Also your table image is important, if you're running good you're more likeley to steal the pot either preflop or on the flop so you can add a couple of hands. If you're running bad you can toss some of the lesser hands.


I never limp if I'm first in to the pot, fold or raise. You should be very restrictive when cold calling. I like to have a really big hand (or really bad opposition and a good multiway hand) to coldcall. If you have a good (by shorthanded standards) hand just three bet. If someone else has limped I usually limp decent suited hands. I raise with the bigger hands, AK-A9, KQ-KJ and good pairs.


Anyway, this is a rough outline of my preflop play (for good or bad).


Sincerely, Andreas

Easiest way to play it, is to pretend that all the people in the empty seats have already folded. So say you are at a 5 person table, then UTG is late-middle position, next player is late position, next player is the button, small blind; big blind. In late-middle position you can play anything from groups 1-5 and anything from group 6 that plays well with no other players (like pocket 5's and 6's). Raise with any hand you want to go head's up with blinds on: like pocket 5's.


If you are playing at a table where raises have no effect or worse yet bring players in then raise with good hands and don't raise with small pairs, AT etc...

While this is almost true it is not completley true. The blinds rotates much faster in a 5-handed game and you are paying twice as much per hand then you would in a 10 handed game. Because of this you have to loosen up even more then you would in a 10 handed game where the first 5 has folded.


Sincerely, Andreas

The short-handed section of HPFAP21 has good info on this. However, much of short handed play comes from experience. I used to not like it much, but nowadays, I actually prefer 7 handed play best, and think I am much tougher at 6 or 5 handed play than I am at 9 or 10 handed play. Part of this is my style: I am aggressive and like to bet. This lends itself well to short-handed play. I especially like short-handed play with one or two calling stations (or otherwise terrible players), and perhaps one tight player. Against fewer players, I get to play heads up against the bad players more often, without the added variance of having several others also in the pot. I'm almost always ahead when I'm playing heads up against a terrible player, and when I'm not, I can usually make the right decisions and either correctly fold, or otherwise outplay them anyway. When I'm heads up against a calling station, they are making a much bigger mistake when they chase their weak draws, therefore I am making a proportionately bigger profit by charging them to chase me.


As far as starting hand requirements, you hit the nail on the head: Big cards. I give up on small suited connectors and small pairs when playing short handed. Instead, I play more big cards, even ones I might normally fold in a heartbeat, such as KTo, and I often raise with them rather than just call. Short handed, you don't get much in the way of implied odds, so you must rely more on pair value of hands.


Dave in Cali