MORE SHORT HANDED TIPS When players switch from full table games to short handed games a lot of them make simple errors which you can exploit if you are observant and avoid making yourself, if you’re smart. Normal full table players are getting better pot odds so when they fail to land long-shot drawing hands it doesn’t hit them as hard as it does in a short handed game. Most short handed games end up in a heads up situation fairly quickly and so the price paid for marginal drawing hands can be very expensive. If you are switching to short handed games (which I recommend from time to time as they’re great fun) keep this in mind and adjust your attitude to drawing hands based on how the game is unfolding. Another tip is to make sure you put a good size bet behind high pairs in a short handed game. The reason this is a safe investment is that players expect aggressive raising in short handed games where blind stealing is the order of the day. You can expect to be called a lot more often than in a full table game. This is a great opportunity for you to exploit. If you know you’re likely to be called whatever you’re holding make sure you go in there gang busters when you do have the goods. This is the route to extracting real value from your efforts in this style of poker.
YOUR RESPONSE TO A RAISE The following advice is a personal point of view and it applies to all types of Texas Hold’em. In general, nine times out of ten, I won’t call a raise that’s in front of me. It has always seemed to me to be a gesture of weakness. I will almost always fold if my instincts tell me I’m probably beat or I’ll re-raise to throw the aggression right back at the raiser. Of course there are times (rare in my view) when you have to cold call. Most situations however require a more certain and assured response. There’s no shame in folding when you figure your opponent or opponents have the best of it. It’s smart and it saves you money. If on the other hand you like your chances against the raiser then the re-raise will give him or her pause and with some luck thrown into the mix, it’ll give you value.
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A BRACE OF BRACELETS It’s interesting to note how the prize money for the younger bracelet winners is outstripping even the absolute Legends of Poker. Doyle Brunson is still going strong but his ten WSOP bracelets have so far only earned him $2,532,000. Johnny “Orient Express” Chan is also still going strong and his ten bracelets have brought him in $3,815,000. However, Phil Hellmuth, obviously very much the younger of the trio, has reaped $4,847,000 from his more recently acquired ten bracelets. That’s almost double Brunson’s rewards. Looks like the young guns are firing golden bullets with scores of youthful online poker millionaires emerging every year.
