Common mistakes in shorthanded play
Original article found at: http://www.pokerpages.com/articles/archives/nick-eisel03.htm
In my first article for this site I outlined many of the reasons why shorthanded is more profitable than a full game for any serious player. One of these points was that most people make even more mistakes in a short game than they do at a full table. They are getting better pot odds at a full table with more players, and so these mistakes are also less painful on their longshot draws. In shorthanded, however, with most pots getting head up quickly, they pay a huge price for drawing to marginal hands.
Today I'll be covering many of the common mistakes that are made at shorthanded poker, as well as going over why they are such big errors.
Limping with Big Pairs
This is simply inexcusable.
In a shorthanded game (as with a late position raise at a full table), people expect you to be raising light and trying to steal the blinds. They've seen many players raising on weak hands in shorthanded, and they are out to be the sheriff and call you down in the hope that you're bluffing. Why, then, would you limp with a big pair? If they're willing to give you action, why wouldn't you get the most money in the pot as possible when you have the best of it?
The reason some people do this is because they are trying to trap the blinds by limping in with AA on the button when everyone has folded to them. They hope that by disguising their hand, they will earn more money on later streets. Well, I've got news for you, this isn't no-limit where you have the huge implied odds and potential to get your opponent's entire stack after he flops a 2nd best hand that he thinks is good.
Even in no limit, I'd still usually raise with a big pair in late position because people aren't going to give you credit for a hand. They expect you to be stealing there and will happily defend their blinds. Stop limping with big pairs, the only one losing money on that play is you!
Cold Calling Raises
This is true in full table games as well, and definitely the worst play in poker if you ask me. There are certainly situations where you are going to cold call a raise, but it is very rare and happens less than once a session on average. You should generally reraise or fold with a raise in front of you.
By cold calling a raise you are usually getting the worst of the situation. You could easily be in big trouble in hand values, depending on who the raiser is and what hand you are cold calling with. I know when I find someone who is cold calling raises with any two big cards like KTo, QJo, QTo, etc I know I've found a gold mine. We all know there are plenty of players out there who will happily put in two bets cold preflop with one of these trouble hands too.
The reason this play is so bad is because not only could you be in trouble in the actual hand values department, but you are giving up the initiative and will usually have to forfeit the pot to the raiser when you miss. While you can argue that if you hit your hand and the raiser misses he will simply fold to your bet, you will not be hitting your hand as much as you'll be missing and giving up all of those bets to him. This is one of the central ideas in shorthanded since you want to avoid as many marginal spots as possible.
Cold calling a raise with KQ, suited or unsuited, is a terrible play in a short game. In a full game, you can usually cold call a raises with KQ suited because you know some other people are coming into the pot or have already entered, and you'll be getting big odds on a hand that is excellent multiway. Shorthanded is more about heads up play and taking down uncontested pots, so if you decide the raiser is raising light, you should reraise rather than call simply because you gain back the initiative and put the pressure on him to hit the flop. In most cases against a respectable raiser though, KQ is not a hand I want to have head up and the best play is just to muck it preflop and stay out of trouble.
In full table, some of the hands that actually warrant cold calling a raise would be JJ and TT, but that all changes in shorthanded. If there's a cold caller in between, then you probably have to just call and hope you flop an overpair, but with nobody in between your best play is to just reraise and get everyone else out. While it's said constantly on TV that two unpaired overcards against a smaller pocket pair is a "coin-flip" situation, you can change this situation in limit poker. If you reraise with jacks or tens and everyone else folds, he'll most likely just call (if he caps it you are in trouble unless he's a real loose raiser) and take a flop. If he misses, he'll usually peel a card, but then fold to a bet on the turn unless he has some sort of gutshot draw or backdoor flush. Can you see how this will win you some pots that would otherwise have been lost if you played your hand passively? I want to note too that there are some people that will cap heads up with AK, but they are a minority and when you find one of them you just deal with them accordingly and don't let them push you into a passive stance.
QJ Offsuit
You look down at your hole cards to find an offsuited QJ. Bells are going off in your head, you've just picked up two face cards, a real monster...right?
Sorry, not this time.
QJ offsuit is possibly the most deceptive hand in poker, and will do nothing but get you into kicker trouble and all sorts of bad situations. Unless you make two pair or the nut straight, this hand has very little value because you can never be truly sure where you're at. One thing you can be sure about, however, is that if someone is raising you back after you hit that Q63 rainbow flop, you're almost undoubtedly beaten.
The hand really has nothing to offer, with a meek Queen high preflop that will never hold up in any real heads up confrontation where neither player makes a pair and there is a showdown. What this means is that there is almost no incentive to raise with just overcards after the flop with this hand because if you get called, you're dead meat. This is not the case with AK, because it is the nut no pair and therefore beats any busted draw. QJo doesn't even beat the busted nut flush draw unless you get them to fold.
The real problem, however, comes when you make just one pair and are outkicked. Most of the other good hands outkick QJ making it a huge dog in any raised pot. So why would you ever want to play this hand? You can't really raise with it because you don't have much if you get called, and you have to pay off when you're beaten plenty of times. At least when it's suited you have the trap door to make a flush. The answer is that you really shouldn't ever want to be playing a QJo. Yet plenty of people have never folded the hand preflop unless it was three bets to go!
Maybe I'm sounding a little harsh here, as we all know that "any hand can win" in holdem. I assure you that outside of the blinds and something like a three handed game, QJo really has little or no value. I'd rather have a K6 suited because at least when I make top pair with that hand and get heat, I know I can get rid of it. QJ is exactly the type of hand you don't want to be playing, especially in a shorthanded game where top pair is king and you're going to have to pay off the better kicker more often than not.
This has been a passion of mine for some time now, and I won't even limp in with the hand behind three limpers when I'm getting good odds to try and crush the flop because I don't want to get into trouble with it. I suggest you do the same and save yourself a lot of grief by just mucking it preflop unless the blinds are weak and you can steal a high percentage of the time.
Playing Suited Connectors
There is certainly a time and place for something like 87 of spades, but it's not a shorthanded game. The only time you're going to find me limping in with something other than JTs or T9s is when there are 3 limps ahead of me and I'm on the button or I'm in one of the blinds.
You aren't getting the necessary multiway action for a suited connector hand, and these hands have no real high card strength anyway. Therefore, when you limp in under the gun with a J9s because you like the hand, you're actually giving up a lot in the longrun because the pot could easily get raised and then you could completely miss the flop since you limped with something marginal to begin with.
This goes along with the idea that most people far too many hands, as one of their main excuses for playing a bad hand is because it was suited. While they may get away with this in a full game, only losing a little bit each time and not really feeling the consequences of playing J4s, they will get hammered in a short game since the pot odds are simply not there for them to keep limping time and again with suited trash.
Basic idea here is to just stop playing so many small suited connected hands. They are fine in the blinds, and fine on the button after a few limpers, but I constantly see people open limping with 76s and that's just like throwing money away unless you're at a table where everyone is going to limp every hand and there will be no raising. Good luck finding that game. These are not a profitable group of hands in shorthanded for the most part.
Defending Their Blinds Too Much
I really would like for someone to explain the logic behind calling a raise in the big blind with 82 offsuit. Because I've seen it time and again in shorthanded!
The stuff people will defend with is just unbelievable, as if they're taking a stand because they're mad that you raised their blind. Get over it, you have 8 high.
My advice here is that you don't defend very much from the small blind. Putting in the extra money and still being out of position with the big blind yet to act in between is just not worth it unless you have some kind of real hand. However, feel free to three-bet someone that you think is stealing with your AQ, AJ, and other decent hands.
The big blind is another agenda, and Rolf Slotboom has done some excellent articles on defending with small connected cards and why it can be beneficial. You really shouldn't be defending that often unless someone is making it a habit to raise your big blind every round or just raising uncontrollably. The reason you shouldn't is because too often you have to check/fold the flop after missing your hand since you don't really know where the raiser is at and you're out of position. When you do defend though, you should be aggressive. I will defend with most decent hands and then depending on the flop, bet out or checkraise the guy and see what happens.
Here's an example:
First two players fold and then next player raises. You haven't seen anything abnormal about his play and he seems to be pretty tight and respectable. Everyone folds to you in the BB and you call with KJo.
The flop comes K94 with two clubs and you check with the intention of raising his bet. He bets, as assumed, and you checkraise. Now, an unexpected thing happens and he immediately makes it three bets. Most people would freeze up here and call down the rest of the way, not believing their opponent. But the other player's bets have just told you that this isn't the right thing to do. Against someone who we've been playing with for a while and we know not to be a maniac, you are clearly beaten here.
The best play is to call and then fold the turn if you don't improve.
The nice thing about playing the hand this way is that you lose the minimum by gaining information with your checkraise. If he has QQ, AQ or something else less than a king and was just fooling around on the flop he will check behind you on the turn and you will then check call the river or bet out, depending on your read of the situation.
If, instead, you'd just bet into him on the flop and he raised you, you really wouldn't know where you were at. This is because a checkraise is a much stronger sign of strength than a random probe bet into the raiser. For him to reraise you after you've shown strength is the sign of a strong hand but not a monster (with a monster he'd wait and raise you on the turn usually). If you just bet out and got raised, you'd probably pay it off to the river, and your opponent would show you the AA, AK, or KQ that you knew he had but called down anyway because you didn't want to get bluffed out. This is just one example though, and there are times where you'd call down here, but against the normal player you are badly beaten having as few as three outs.
My point here is that you shouldn't be defending as often unless you have some type of hand with which to put up a fight after the flop. If you keep calling with garbage and then check calling every street with bottom pair because you "know the guy has AK," you're gonna lose a lot of money. Just don't say I didn't tell you so.