Shorthand Limit Texas Hold'em Strategy

Shorthanded games are very popular at online poker rooms. Shorthanded games means that there are a max of 6 players on the table. The strategies for shorthanded is a bit different comparing to full table. Becuase there are less players on the table you have to play more hands and play the hands more aggresive.

Starting hands

When playing shorthanded you should play more high cards and stay away from small pair and low suited connectors. You should also play more aggressive preflop. Use startinghands for full table and make some adjustement.
You can call the flop with hands like A9, A8, K9, Q9.
Hands to raise with, non-raised flop: Pair of eight and over, AT, KQ, KJ
Hands to call or reraise a raise with: high paired cards, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, ATs.

Its important to adjust your startinghands depending on your opponent, if your opponent is very aggresive preflop, you should call and reraise whith more hands.
An aggresive player could for example easily be raising with A4 or K8, so you would want to isolate him even with a low pocket pairs and hands like A9.
When you reraise preflop you will take command over the game, so instead of betting your opponent will probably check to you on the flop. Then its up to your opponent to call fold or raise when you bet on the flop.

For example: If your opponent raise with A8 and you reraise with 77 and the flop coms KQ4, he will probably check to you and fold when you bet. If you would have called him preflop he would probably bet on the flop and you would have to fold.

Suited connectors and small pairs are only playable under certain conditions. If people are not aggressive, it may be possible to limp with these hands and play multiway pots. If there are four or less players in the game, there will not be any multiway pots. So when the game is very short, suited connectors have very little value. For small pairs, you want to play heads up pot if the game is very shorthanded.

Play Aggressive

It´s usually better to raise the pot than call, when a hand is worth to be called then you should take command of the pot and raise to steal the pot right there.

A single opponent will only flop a hand worth calling your bet (a pair, two overcards, or a draw or better) about half the time even if he had a decent hand preflop. This means that you need to be doing a lot of betting, both on the flop and beyond.
You should also make more value bets than in a full game, since your opponent will be calling with a lot more hands.

If you dont play aggressive, its hard to make a profit in a shorthanded game. Of course, you must pick your spots well. If someone only bets when he has flopped something good, don't waste your money trying to run him off his hand.
You will get called more often in a shorthanded game, so save your bluffs for situations where you think there is a good chance no one has anything.

Use your opponents aggression against them, because you can expect your opponent to automatically bet in a lot of situations, you will need to slowplay more hands and let you opponents bluff. You can also check raise with more hands becuase there is a good chance your opponent will bluff against you if you check.

You should frequently be going for check-raises when your playing aginst an aggressive opponent. The reason for this is to get more money in the pot and itb often ties your opponent to the pot psychologically, and teaches him that in the future he cannot automatically bet whenever you check.

Read your opponents

Its very importent to keep track of your opponent when playing shorthanded. Since you often bluff you need to know if your up aginst a tight player that can fold his hand or loose player that wont lay his hand down.
If you know your up against a loose player its no use to bluff, but you can value bet much more hands becuase he is going to call you with a gutshot draw or ace high.