Don’t be afraid of short-handed games
There hasn’t been much discussion in poker books dealing with the topic of playing in a short-handed game that is, playing against a small number of opponents. Most Texas Hold’em games are played with nine, 10, or even 11 players seated at the table.
In a game like this, you can afford to sit tight and wait for premium hands before entering a pot. Since you have to pay a blind only twice per round, the pressure to play a lot of hands just isn’t there. When you’re playing short-handed, however…
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Poker glossary:
- OPENERS - Cards in a hand that qualify a player to open the betting.
- QUARTER - [1] Twenty-five dollars, often symbolized by a green casino chip. [2] To divide half a pot between two tying hands. In split pot games, a player who "ties" another player for their half of the pot is said to be "quartered". One might say "I didn't bet my A-2 because I figured I'd get quartered".
- SPREAD LIMIT - A variation on fixed limit wherein the minimum and maximum bets are different. A 1-4-8 game allows bets from 1 to 4 in the early rounds and 1-8 in the last round. A 1-4-8-16 game allows bets from 1 to 4 in the early rounds, 1 to 8 in the next-to-last round, and 1 to 16 in the last round.
- STUD - Any of several poker games in which some of each players' cards are exposed.
- STUCK - Down a nontrivial amount of money, as in "he's stuck $800".
- READ - To determine whether an opponent has a good, medium or bad hand by observing his personal behavior. An inexact science.
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