Short-Handed Hold 'Em

As I expressed in a recent post, I'm a really big fan of home games, which are often short-handed. But even though I love playing in them, my record of wins and losses leaves something to be desired.

If I were to average all my home game winnings and losses from the date I started playing poker, I would look pretty good on paper. Unfortunately, my average is grossly skewed by two games that I played as a guest at another person's home game. I posted wins of $431 and $157 at those two games (buying in for $80).

In my regular home game, however, the buy-in has typically been only $5. And in those games, throughout my career I've done pretty horribly. I've had some decent wins in there, but I would say after a typical session I finish stuck for about 2-3 buy-ins ($10-15).

So while in terms of absolute dollars I turn out to be a long-run winner in home games, I'm a loser in terms of number of buy-ins. I guess I could take from this analysis that I'm a better player at higher stakes. Then again, I don't play too differently just because more money is involved. My style stays pretty much the same. I guess it might be more accurate to say that my style of play is better suited for games with larger stakes.

I tend generally to be a fairly loose-aggressive player. I can certainly change gears and play tight when the situation demands it, but tight play is not my initial approach. (Note that when I say "loose," I mean more in terms of the range of cards I feel comfortable playing rather than the number of hands that I play. I still fold most of the time. But when I do raise a pot, I'm just as likely to be holding 8-6 suited as pocket Kings.) At higher stakes I can better get away with this, because it's possible to use aggression to push players off marginal hands (even if I'm only holding a marginal hand myself). At low or micro limits, like most home games tend to be, overcards and second pairs are more likely to stick around. Thus, my aggression in early betting rounds gives me less information about my opponents' holdings. If I bet solidly on the flop and get called in a low-limit game, it's hard for me to know if my opponent is trapping me or chasing me. In a game where the bucks are a little bigger, the ambiguity is often reduced or eliminated.

It could also be argued that I did well when I was a guest at my friend's game because the players have had less time to analyze my style. One could say that over time, the players in my regular game have built up defenses against my tactics and know how likely I am to bet aggressively with less-than-premium holdings. But then how does one account for the player in our game that does well week-in and week out? This guy loses on occasion, but rarely more than a single buy-in. And most sessions he finishes ahead by over $20. Players have had equally ample time to figure him out. No, I think the real explanation is that there is an inherent flaw in my short-handed play that I haven't been able to figure out.

So, to help get my short-handed game where it needs to be, I decided to seek some help. What I found was a decent article on CardPlayer's website. It's not the most profound thing ever, but there were a few nuggets that I think will be good things to remember in my short-handed play.

One point that caught my attention was that in short-handed play, the value of high cards (10 and up) and small pairs increases. The reasons are simple: there are fewer players out there to challenge you. If on average a third of the table sees the flop in hold em, that means three total players at a 9-handed full ring game vs. only two in a 6-handed game. So you're more often heads up for the pot. Conversely, the value of suited connectors goes down. This is because less often will you have the correct pot odds to chase your straights and flushes in a short-handed game.

Anyway, these are some things that I picked up. Obviously there's more to this article, and there's even more literature out there beyond this piece. I guess the moral of the story is that even if you've been playing for a while, it doesn't hurt sometimes to do some reading to shore up your game.