Adjusting for really short games (<= 4 players)

[stickdude]

I've been playing around with PT this morning, and I noticed something rather interesting. If I filter my results based on the number of players in the hand, the difference between 5-6 players and 4 or fewer players is like night and day.

5-6 players - 22,347 hands (mix of 1/2, 2/4, and 3/6) - +1.59 BB/100

25.32 VP$P
34.34 WtSD
55.24 W$SD
1.59 Total AF


4 or fewer players - 5,028 hands - <font color="red">(-1.52 BB/100)</font>

33.59 VP$P
33.85 WtSD
52.76 W$SD
1.58 Total AF

I know it's a pretty small sample size, but once it gets down to 3 or 4 players, it feels like a different game - almost as much as 6-max vs. full ring. I know I should loosen up when the table gets smaller, but how much? What other adjustments should I be making (short of leaving the table)?

[PunchOut]

Here is something from rabscuttle from NWP a year ago. This should give you something to think about when playing short. All of you 2+2'ers

1) Pocket anything, Ace anything suited, and Jack Ten split or higher can be raised from any position if you are first to act (UTG you may want to tighten up the ship a little). If you are in the button with any of these hands, three betting is always a strong consideration. Positions other than the button I would three bet any pair higher than 6's, AJ unsuited or better, and JT suited or better. Typically just calling a raise in 6 man is a bad play. You either want to be the first one in raising, or you want to be the one three betting. Short handed limit holdem is all about who takes down more pots than the other players. If you tend to be calling more bets, you will likely be folding a lot more pots then the more aggressive people even though your holdings might be better than what they have. It's much better to bet and make people fold than make difficult decisions as to where you stand on any given hand when you just call preflop and miss or semi-miss the flop.
2) The postflop checkraise. Anytime you have been threebet preflop or call a raiser from out of position and hit your hand hard, you should checkraise the bettor 95% of the time. If I have 33 and the flop is KQ3, I am going to checkraise the initial raiser ON THE FLOP and play my hand fast. There is no reason to slowplay here. If he raised preflop, he is likely to have AK, AQ, KJ, JT, QT and checkraising the flop is going to put the most money into the pot. Think about it. If he is holding AK or KJ he is more than likely going to call your checkraise on the flop and raise you on the turn figuring his to pair to be good. If he has JT he might threebet on the flop hoping to potentially get a free card on the turn. Either way, you punish him by playing your hand fast.
3) The turn raise. If you checkraised an opponent on the flop and he calls, you must lead out on the turn almost every time. IF you checkraised a mid pair on the flop and another over card hits the turn, it is still correct to bet out on the turn representing strength. If, however, your opponent raises you on the turn in this spot, you are most likely losing and need to drop the hand. Tricky opponents are capable of rasing a big draw or even a stone cold bluff here, but most players will fold or merely check/call the whole way down with anything less than top pair.
4) The river. If you bet the turn and were simply called, you have to do one last evaluation on your hand. Is he calling ace high? A draw that misses? Middle pair? If you checkraised with a big draw that missed on the turn and river, it is not likely your oppoenent will fold here and you should likely check and dump your hand if he bets. Most players that call the turn are also going tocall the river, so a bluff here is usually a wasted bet. If however your opponent merely called the turn, i would bet mid-pair or better here. Low pair or big ace high (AK, AQ) I would likely check call the river.

[Guruman]

very shorthanded is very diff from 6max.

the above advice is ok, though there are spots that I tend to disagree with.

My thoughts:

1)learn to make lots and lots of slim valuebets and value raises in position. Middle pair, bottom pair, AKo UI, etc. People pay off with A hi, K hi, and Q hi in this setting, so charge them to show down (even on scary boards)

2)learn to take passive lines with hands that are not particularly vulnerable to getting drawn out on. Allowing your opponents to bluff off chips is very important in this setting. Don't let them off the hook too easily by raising flops where you're not going to be outdrawn.

3)don't bet/fold much. Really. don't bother. Its very important to navigate your way to showdown with most of your showdown worthy hands. Dont put yourself in a position to outthink yourself.

4)put in more action early vs players who havent adjusted for the number of people in play. Specifically you should be threebetting and capping your mid and low pocket pairs, some suited connectors, and all of your broadways if your opponent will find too many folds on the flop or turn. Some players will incorrectly read your range as the same as it would be 6 handed or even 10 handed. Use this tendancy against them and force them to fit or fold themselves to death.

5)If you put in more action early, put in less action late. You've repped a bigger hand then you have and your dance partner is keeping pace? slow down and get to showdown if you have that kind of hand, or pitch if you can't showdown and your pair outs wont be good.

6)Observe the nature of your opponent's checks, and checking patterns. When very shorthanded people will tend to bet and raise in all kinds of nutty spots. Thier checking patterns tend to stay much more inline with thier thoughts though, so use this a tool to read hands with. Offensive checks look different than defensive checks, and most checks are defined by the previous action. Be sure not to bluff at defensive checks.

[poisonxfree]

[ QUOTE ]

3)don't bet/fold much. Really. don't bother. Its very important to navigate your way to showdown with most of your showdown worthy hands. Dont put yourself in a position to outthink yourself.


[/ QUOTE ]

I've been experimenting with HU - 4 handed games lately, and this is huge. I already feel like I have a problem with bet/folding too much, and it really gets taken advantage of when I play this short [also because the games are more aggro, thus is the nature of the game and it's moreso where I've been playing]. It's a much different game and I'm having to force myself to go to showdown more, and I still feel I'm doing it in the wrong spots sometimes, and missing the right spots at other times.

[DCWildcat]

sample size blah blah

very good post guruman

[Pepsquad]

[ QUOTE ]
very shorthanded is very diff from 6max.

the above advice is ok, though there are spots that I tend to disagree with.

My thoughts:

1)learn to make lots and lots of slim valuebets and value raises in position. Middle pair, bottom pair, AKo UI, etc. People pay off with A hi, K hi, and Q hi in this setting, so charge them to show down (even on scary boards)

2)learn to take passive lines with hands that are not particularly vulnerable to getting drawn out on. Allowing your opponents to bluff off chips is very important in this setting. Don't let them off the hook too easily by raising flops where you're not going to be outdrawn.

3)don't bet/fold much. Really. don't bother. Its very important to navigate your way to showdown with most of your showdown worthy hands. Dont put yourself in a position to outthink yourself.

4)put in more action early vs players who havent adjusted for the number of people in play. Specifically you should be threebetting and capping your mid and low pocket pairs, some suited connectors, and all of your broadways if your opponent will find too many folds on the flop or turn. Some players will incorrectly read your range as the same as it would be 6 handed or even 10 handed. Use this tendancy against them and force them to fit or fold themselves to death.

5)If you put in more action early, put in less action late. You've repped a bigger hand then you have and your dance partner is keeping pace? slow down and get to showdown if you have that kind of hand, or pitch if you can't showdown and your pair outs wont be good.

6)Observe the nature of your opponent's checks, and checking patterns. When very shorthanded people will tend to bet and raise in all kinds of nutty spots. Thier checking patterns tend to stay much more inline with thier thoughts though, so use this a tool to read hands with. Offensive checks look different than defensive checks, and most checks are defined by the previous action. Be sure not to bluff at defensive checks.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is the most accurate, concise, well-worded post I've read in weeks. For those who are just beginning short-handed limit, I'd suggest re-reading this until you can recite it. Learning to apply #2 correctly in &lt;4 handed games could single-handedly transform your game.

[stickdude]

Thanks Guruman. I'll definitely keep that advice in mind next time my table gets short.

[kapw7]

I almost have the exact opposite problem. My 2-4hand results are much better than my 5-6 hand. I think that my style of play is more suited to shorter games. I generally defend a lot, steal a lot, value bet/raise a lot, bluff a lot and call down a lot. This style of play can also lead to disaster so you really need to make these plays based on reads, image, tempo, game theory (whatever that means).
However simply playing more hands will not do anything. Probably it will lose you more money.

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
I almost have the exact opposite problem. My 2-4hand results are much better than my 5-6 hand. I think that my style of play is more suited to shorter games. I generally defend a lot, steal a lot, value bet/raise a lot, bluff a lot and call down a lot. This style of play can also lead to disaster so you really need to make these plays based on reads, image, tempo, game theory (whatever that means).
However simply playing more hands will not do anything. Probably it will lose you more money.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're an equally good player 6 handed and 4 handed, you will make more money four handed for a couple of reasons. First because you're table selection will naturally be better 4 handed, and second, you are going to play more hands and make more decisions. So basically the shorter you play the more hands you play directly against weaker competition, which should result in more money. Of course, this assumes a rake free environment, which isn't realistic.

[Guruman]

unless you play WPEX. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]