Selected Poker Rooms
An important term for all poker players to be familiar with is 'shorthand' games. A shorthand game is a game which includes six players or less. Although at land-based gaming facilities poker is normally played with 9 or ten players seated around the table, shorthand games are a pretty frequent phenomenon at online poker rooms. Moreover, high-stakes online games are typically played in the shorthand format. Establishing a basic shorthand poker strategy is essentially crucial if you seek to succeed in poker.
Shorthand Poker Hands to hold preflop
What you need to keep in mind is that hand strength is a highly relative term. While in certain circumstances you will consider a certain hand to be of no value at all, in others, the same hand will result as the winning one. The smartest thing to do when you consider joining a table is focus on what your opponents may hold and try to predict whether or not you have a stronger starting hand.
Hands you want to raise with include: Pocket Pairs, AT+, KQ, KJ, QJ, JT
Hands you want to call a raise with include: High Pocket Pairs, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, AT, QJ.
Shorthand poker hands worthy of rerasining are very situational. It all depends who the raiser is. When dealing with all types of players, except maniacs, it is recommended to rereaise with a strong poker hand such as AA and KK. However, when it comes to maniacs who are capable of rerasing with A4, you should rereaise with a hand stronger than A9.
Flop time
Speaking in very general terms, whenever you think you can make a strong shorthand poker hand you should go for it. If any other player raises your wager, it is very recommended to make a rereaise. It is either that your opponent is trying to buy a free card on the turn or that he has a worthless hand and he is raising for value. It is our educated advice that you be careful when holding top pair or better. Although it is normally wise to rereaise with such a hand, if its not the top pair and so you should think twice before making any move. Your ultimate decision must take into consideration certain factors, the most important of which is what's the strength of your hand compared to the board.
Table control
Maintaining control of the table is of paramount importance in shorthand poker games. If you happen to feel that one of your opponents is about to take control of the table, you should seek to thwart his efforts. Check out the following moves. What you need to do is wait until the aggressive participant raises your bet. Remember, this method will only work if you are holding a completely worthless hand. Once you have him where you want him, you should suddenly raise. If your opponent folds, show him the hand before mucking. If he reraises you, do the same. Whatever goes on during play, be sure that he takes a look at your cards on the showdown. Your goal is essentially very simple. You want to confuse your opponent. You want to mislead him and throw him off. You want to seem as unpredictable as possible. You know why? Because control at the table typically translates into a player's ability to count on predictability of his opponents. The more predictable a player is the easier he is to beat!
Once you show your opponents who the boss is, you can win any game, shorthand as well as longhand pretty much alike...