Ramping up the aggression short-handed

By Ben Blaschke
26 June 2009

SHORT-handed.
It’s a term that elicits fear among rookies and raw adrenalin for the reckless among us.
For all the hundreds of poker forms and the myriad of options in each, nothing gets the blood flowing quite like a game of short-handed Hold ‘Em.
This is not a game for the faint-hearted.
While a full-ring game affords opportunities to sit back and wait for an opportunity, shot-handed is all about creating those opportunities yourself.
Forget the cards – get in there and raise, raise, raise!
Okay, well it might not be quite that simple but you get the idea.
Short-handed is a game of aggression and taking advantage of your opponents’ weaknesses.
In-fact, there is no better game in which to exploit a tight player or one too scared to take the odd risk.
With the blinds coming around much faster and players attacking you more often, you simply can’t afford to sit back and wait for Aces.
So what hands should you be playing?
It would be a tad remiss of me to say ‘all of them’ but certainly the range is huge compared to a full-ring game.
Whereas a hand such as A-4 suited is only going to get you into trouble nine-handed, when you have just five or fewer opponents it could very well be enough to take down a decent pot.
Then again, so could 7-2. The fact is that, rather than worrying too much about the cards in your hand, it is far less likely that your opponents will have much either.
For this reason, hands that should be played carefully in full-ring – the likes of K-J or J-10 suited – go up significantly in value short-handed.
Why? Because top pair is going to take down the pot far more often against five players than it is against eight.
So is no pair, for that matter. Aggression alone will often be enough to push a stubborn player off a pot.
On a personal note, there are exceptions to this ‘aggression at all costs’ approach.
Because there will be more 3 and 4-betting short-handed it pays to create a solid table image early by not getting too carried away.
Position is crucial, as always, but I prefer not to raise on the button EVERY SINGLE HAND.
I still discard the trash for two reasons:
1) Stealing blinds in cash games isn’t anywhere near as profitable as it is in tournament play when you compare them to stack sizes.
2) I don’t want to have an opponent start re-raise every hand me simply because he knows I’m stealing.
That said, I’m going to be raising with any hand that shows any sort of potential, so any two pictures, any Ace, any pair, most suited connectors and gapers – often enough for my opponents to know I’m not here on a holiday!
And if, after all of this, your opponents simply aren’t playing back at you then it might just be time to discard the above advice and raise EVERY SINGLE HAND.
The fact remains that even if you are called in the blinds, chances are your opponent will miss and you’ll be able to take down the pot with a standard C-bet.
Just make sure to remove outside distractions when you play short-handed because the action is fast and furious and you won’t have time to start day-dreaming.
Because everyone is playing more hands, you will have a much greater opportunity to pick up on your opponents’ nuances and ultimately attack them mercilessly.
Hold on and enjoy the ride!