Universal Truths of Poker 2

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

In my last column I listed six Universal Truths of Poker (UTP). I explained how these UTP, while generally true, do have exceptions. I covered only the first three, promising to address the remaining three in my next columns. Here is UTP #4

UTP #4 Bluff More in a Short-handed Game

Most players tend to bluff more when the game is short-handed. They reason that since there are fewer players in the hand they can win the pot more easily by bluffing - since they have to "fool" fewer players into believing they have a strong hand. But while this may be correct strategy in some games, it is actually very wrong in others.

In conventional structured card room games like Draw, LoBall, Omaha and Hold Em that seed the pot with Blind bets this UTP generally makes sense. In these games the initial pot is the same size regardless of the number of players. In a $10/20 Hold Em game, for example, the Small Blind is $5 and the Big Blind is $10. The pot starts out as $15 no matter how many opponents you have.

If you are under the gun and thereby first to act in a four-person game, it's really like being seated 8th in a full 10 person game. You can bluff with greater frequency, knowing that there are fewer players yet to act after you who are likely to have a hand. In fact, if you are Under the Gun in a four-handed game you are actually in a better situation than sitting in 8th position in a full game. That's because in a full game, if all of the players have folded to you there is a slightly greater chance than in a short game that the remaining players actually do have a quality hand. I'll let the Hold Em experts explain in their columns in detail why this is true. Leave it to say that if none of the first players to act had a decent holding there's a greater chance that the good high cards are sitting in the hands of the players remaining to act.

But in Stud games the pot is not the same size in a short-handed game as it is in a full game. It is smaller because fewer players are anteing. It is thereby less worth stealing!!!

If you have four players, each one anteing $1.00 and a $3.00 forced bet, then the initial pot is $7.00. In a full game of 8 players you'll have $1.00 each plus $3.00 from the force for $11.00 - almost 50% more money to start in the full game than in the short game.

Bluffing in the short Stud game stands to win you significantly less money than it does in a full Stud game. So it doesn't make as much sense to try it.

This doesn't mean you should be less aggressive. Far from it. In fact, you should bet more aggressively in a short-handed game than in a full game. But it shouldn't be because you're bluffing more. It should be because you are value betting more. Your hand values go up because you are against fewer opponents. Your low and medium pairs are worth relatively more short-handed. So too are hands like three high cards or even just a suited Ace and King. These hands can be raised more frequently not as a bluff but as a value bet. This is because your medium hands are more likely to be the best hand against few opponents. Heads up a pair of Deuces is likely to be the better hand. Four-way a pair of 6s is likely to be best. Eight-way and the best hand is likely to be nothing lower than a pair of 10s.

So bet more aggressively with medium strength hands like pairs and Three High cards but be less willing likely to make a stab at winning the pot on a complete bluff.

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