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:: Shorthand Game
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Shorthand Limit Texas Hold'em
Shorthand Hold'em (tables with six or fewer people) is very popular online. As a matter of fact, most of the higher-limit games are played shorthand. To be successful playing Internet poker, therefore, you really should learn how to play shorthand first. Here are some pointers you might find helpful as you’re looking around:
What type of game should I search for?
Important question. One of the most important poker skills is indeed knowing and playing the right game. Unless you’re just looking for practice, there's no reason at all to play against other pros. In any case you can't expect to make money with that approach!
Looking at the flop percentage is the best way to determine if a game is easy or not. Higher than 40% indicates a good game while with 25-30%, you’ll probably want to stay away. Some sites express the flop percentage as the avg. number of people at the flop. This isn't as helpful, but generally, decide to visit if the average is placed at three or more. More people arriving at the flop means that the quality of hands being played is lower. So, all YOU need to do is sit and wait to pounce.
Pre-flop starting hands
What exactly are the good hands and the bad hands? A vast amount of information has been written on this topic, but we can summarize briefly here what we consider "playable" hands. One thing to remember is that hand values are relative, so a hand can be good in certain situations while worthless under others. For example, if there has been a lot of action like a raise and a re-raise and then someone calling the re-raise, we recommend folding anything besides an ace-ace or king-king combination. If the competition is tight, you may even want to fold with 2 kings. Because hand values are relative, it's important to think about what the other guy is holding and attempt to guess whether or not you have a better starting hand before going in.
Hands to RAISE with (non-raised flop):
Paired cards
A-10+
K-Q
K-J
Q-J
J-10
Hands to CALL A RAISE with:
High paired cards
A-Q
A-K
A-J (maybe)
K-Q
Hands to RE-RAISE A RAISE with:
Depends on who’s raising. Re-raise a maniac with any pair or an ace-9+ combination, because you'll probably be winning at the flop. Otherwise, re-raise with "made" hands:
J-J
Q-Q
K-K
A-A (although you may want to "smooth call" with J-J)
Hands to CALL and hope to build a pot with (early position):
High-suited connectors (i.e., 9-10s).
Flop advice
If you’ve got a "made" hand, bet it. If the flop is A-K-5, bet w/ your K-Q combination and maybe they'll fold. If someone calls, then you need to make a decision. If you believe he's drawing, keep betting at him. If he's the kind of guy who likes to call with the second-best hand, it might be a good idea to check to him to see if he bets (he probably has a pair too).
When you've got pair but it's not the top pair, DO NOT call a bet. Raise or fold. Determine where you are on the flop. If you just flat call, that's a total of five small bets. If you raise and he comes back hard, you can probably fold and save yourself three small bets (unless he's crazy - then, just call him all the way up to the river).
Drawing hands and pot odds
Always be aware of the number of "outs" (number of cards that will make your hand a winner) that you have available. The formula for discover the percentage of hitting on the next card is:
(# of outs) x (2) + (2) = APPROXIMATE PERCENTAGE OF HITTING
Once you've determined that, you can consider your pot odds by taking the pot total and dividing it by the percentage of hitting. If the bet is smaller than that number, call.
An illustration: Let’s say you are on a flush draw in a $10-$20 hand, with two spades in your hand and two on the flop - it means there are another 9 spades out there. The chances of hitting on the turn are about 20%. If the pot is $80 and the bet to you is $10, call!
Bluffing
General rule of thumb regarding bluffing: not useful/doesn’t work until limits have reached $5-$10 or higher.
Semi-bluffing: this is what we call betting when you don't have a made hand yet, but when you have the chance for one. For example, let's consider betting on a flush draw. Imagine the flop is ace-6-4, you have a king-queen suited and there are two additional cards of your suit on the table. You can go ahead and bet in this situation. There’s not only a good chance you’ll hit, but you can also steal the pot. Semi-bluffing is only effective at higher levels though because at lower levels you are just value-betting: people will call you.
Pure bluffs: These generally don't work too well at limit poker, but they have their moments. For example, imagine that the flop is a little bit scary at a higher-level table; ace-queen-9 perhaps. If the action is passed to you and there aren't many in it, go ahead and bet at it if you've displayed some strength before the flop. However, we're not making any guarantees.
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