Short handed - Strategy change as player numbers change?

[imported_excel]

When playing at a standard 6 player table, as with any game players leave and join, quiet often the table will carry on playing with 5 or 4 players,

Do good players actively adjust there play to this lower number of players, particularly pre flop where hands like Ax surely become more profitable in the OC or button, whereas a tight player may fold these if 6 players at the table.


Also, say Im first in with a raise on the button with A7 on a 4 player table, is that in the long term likelt to be the same profitability (or should I be saying EV) as if I did the same play in a 6 player game, 1st in on the button.

[sublime]

your position in relation to the button is the key. be it 4 handed, 6 handed, or full ring.

as for your o/r on the button being more or less profitable 4 or 6 handed, that has to do with card distribution and somebody in the probabilty forum can help ya out. i doubt it matters much though.

[naphand]

The difference between 5 and 6 handed is not great, your PF raising standards will probably not need to change much compared to MP 6-handed. Look at your 6-handed stats, and adjust upwards by 20% and you won't be far wrong in what you do PF. Post-flop is very player dependent though I do find 5-handed (regular) games there is a lot more bluffing going on, and certainly you can play 2nd-pair hands a little more confidently. If the players do not adjusrt, you can bluff a little more.

4-handed is what I consider to be where "short" handed really starts. With 4-players you are pretty much either trying to steal the blinds or defending them, every deal. You need to start thinking more Heads-up style strategies, pretty much never entering a pot PF outside the blinds without a raise. Blinds will need to be liberally defended and you will have to pay very close attention to what your opponents are doing. Don't go too mad, people can still hit strong runs of cards, so make sure you watch what they turn over at SD, but 4-handed is much more about stealing and opponents than odds and card-value than 5 or 6 handed.

[ProfLupin]

To give you another thought on this, think of averaging your required blind money out for every hand. 10 handed you're paying roughly 1.5 small bets every rotation or .15 sb per hand dealt. 6 handed that's .25 sb per hand. 4 handed it's up to .375 sb per hand. After you drop to 5 handed, every player you lose increases the amount of blind money you pay every hand by quite a lot, so your strategy has to change to reflect that.
HOW your strategy changes is what these forums are all about. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Welcome

[rmr1976]

Don't you have to be careful about how aggressive you are? I've had roughly 500 hands with 5 or less at .5/1, and if you are too loose and aggressive, the players will play back at you (which is correct for them to do).

What do you think the optimal balance between aggression and discretion is? How do you play so that the opponents remain ignorant of proper shorthand strategy?

[naphand]

The first thing you need to do is stop giving your opponents too much credit. Make your aggressive moves when you have shown some winners, slow down a bit after losing a pot with something like AKo unimproved -vs- middle pair no kicker. When they are calling you down a lot, take it easy and hammer your good hands/flops. When you are beasting them, steal more pots. You have to be wise to which players are calling stations, which players are tricky, who bluffs etc. PT won't help you much once tables get very short, you need to read your players.

But yes, don't try and push people around when the board is missing you a lot, they will notice you are betting with nothing. Your question is kinda obvious, and there is no real answer, you make up the rules as you go along. 5-handed games can be very passive, or they can be very aggressive: you will have to remain flexible and know when to back off. But 5-handed, a big hand shown-down will get you a lot of strength for the next few hands, which you should use against the weaker players.