Loosening Up Your Play on 6 Man Tables
Folding hand after hand on a full table can get to a lot of players. The sheer boredom of waiting for cards to come can be a bit much for people and this is where the sloppy play starts to make its way into you game. If you want to see more action and be able to loosen up your play without paying so much of a penalty, you should try 6 man tables.
Shorthanded play is something that not many people are very good at. The reason for this is that when you are playing in a live casino, you are generally at a full table the entire time. Online poker offers you another option that cannot find in a brick and mortar casino and that is the shorthanded table.
When you are playing shorthanded, you have to be able to open up your play if you are going to be successful. AA, KK and AK are no longer needed to fire in a raise under the gun. With only 5 other players in the game and 2 of them on blinds, you now only have 3 other players to get buy before you can steal those blinds. In shorthanded play, AJs, A10s and middle pocket pairs become much more powerful in early position. These are hands that you are supposed to fold on a full table, now you are going to raise with them.
Having less people on a table also means that fewer people stand a chance to hit the flop. You will often see people make some incredible calls on short tables. The infamous, “how can you call with that kicker?” is a pretty popular rant from someone who is banging away at the pot with his KK and then he sees a A2 get flipped over and loses it.
If you are on a full table, calling down a raiser with middle pair is probably not an option. When you are playing short, you may actually want to make a move on the pot at this time unless the flop shows an A or a K. If you are sitting on 78s to flop of 10-7-3, you may very well be good if you are heads up. Can you even think of making this play on a full table?
Shorthanded play takes a lot of practice, but when you become proficient at it, you can add tons of cash to your bankroll. It will help you play better during those late night hours at the casino when people start heading out and it will also help you do better in tournaments when the field gets narrowed down and tables are constantly playing short. Loosen up your game and don’t be afraid to mix it up and watch the cash start to pile up.
