Short handed Limit Hold'em

Poker Variants / Marcus Bateman / 16 June 2010 / Leave a Comment

Some players who are very skilled full ring players actually become the fish as games break down or if they sit on a six max table.

In all forms of short handed poker you have to start playing more loosely, but nowhere is this more true than in limit games. Unlike in big bet games, where you can still afford to play tightly if there are very loose cannons at the table, in Limit Hold'em you simply cannot win enough on your big hands to make up for the extra amount each hand costs (as the blinds pass through you much more often, the price per hand increases as the numbers of players at the table decreases).

The consequences on how you should be playing in short handed limit games because of this are pretty severe if you are used to playing a tight aggressive nine handed game. Six handed or less you have to start opening a much larger range of hands and fight constantly for pots. Short handed Limit Hold'em is a game much more about pre flop and flop aggression than any other factor, and someone used to trying to extract big bets out of weak hands on the late streets will struggle to adapt to short handed games if they cannot keep up.

Some players who are very skilled full ring players actually become the fish as games break down or if they sit on a six max table. As full ring players tend to stick to playing only strong hands, they struggle to not only start opening much more marginal holdings, but also to play them throughout the hand. If you are not used to making decisions with hands like middle or bottom pair or top pair with terrible kickers, short handed Limit Hold'em games are going to be very tough for you - and many players used to full ring games do not have the skills to cope with these much more marginal and complex decisions.

However, marginal decisions are what make or break poker players, and short handed games are vastly more profitable if you are skilled than full ring games. As you are forced into much more complex and intense decision making, any edge you have over your opponents is increased massively, as both the turnover of hands and the profit on each one increases. Learning to play short handed Limit Hold'em is crucial if you want to maximise your possible wins - it is one of the most popular forms of poker out there, and you will be missing out on some big wins if avoid the short games.

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