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Playing Short Handed
Playing Short Handed - 5 to 6 Players
Shorthanded play is considered to involve 6 players or fewer and requires a different strategy to longhanded games, also known as 10 handed play.
The blinds come around much more regularly which means you are committing a greater percentage of your stack to see the same amount of cards as you would in a longhanded game. In order to survive, you must lower your starting hand requirements significantly in order to play a wider range of hands, shrewd opponents will be doing the same which means the table plays looser and allows you to lower your requirements without fear of always having the worst hand; basically substandard hands win more frequently because the standard has dropped.
Hands that possess great value in a longhanded game like a suited connector lose their value somewhat because shorthanded games struggle to supply sufficient pot odds to correctly draw to them. High value face cards increase in value because they are much more likely to win without needing to improve, any ace with a half decent kicker becomes a very attractive hand shorthanded and well worth raising pre flop with. Any pair, especially medium and high ranked pairs also increases in value because invariably it will be the best pre flop hand at the table and raising with them is more likely to get opponents to fold.
Aggressive play is well suited to shorthanded games; in a longhanded format it is often correct to only play 15-25% of the hands dealt to you, but in a shorthanded game where you are either in the blinds or button over 33% and 16% of the time respectively, it is appropriate to raise the level of aggression in your game, most likely your opponents will be making the same adjustments.
With so many factors dictating you to play more aggressively, position takes on a more important role than in a longhanded game; your opponents will be gambling a lot more often and you should be aware they are likely to make more positional moves, as should you. The value of middle pair, or even bottom pair on the flop increases too; where it is sensible to release middle pair in the face of aggression at a 10 handed table, you should be prepared to stick around with such holdings in a shorthanded environment, especially if your opponents have proven themselves to be loose and aggressive.
Caution is advised though, because of the drop in standard, it is far easier to become committed with a substandard hand. Shorthanded play involves a lot more gambling than longhanded play, but this does'nt mean there's significantly less value in laying down a made hand.
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