Short Tables,
Beginner Strategies
July 12 2008
Short table poker is played more aggressively than regular poker games. With fewer cards in play, there will be fewer big hands to worry about. The blind positions are forced to make their bets, so they have money on the line but often have no cards to play with. With this in mind, players will raise up the blind players to force them out of the hand. It’s usually the button player, or one player off the button, who tries to steal the blinds with a pre-flop raise.
This tactic is practiced more often in short table poker, and it’s almost essential that you do it too. With everyone else trying to steal the blinds, you need to get your share of them. You will have to fold while in the blind positions yourself, so stealing some blinds from your opponents will even it up. It may seem like a small amount, but over time it will accumulate to be a lot of chips.
Don’t try to steal the blinds every hand. You will eventually run into a big hand that the blind player is holding. If you can show good cards the first time the big blind decides to call you down, you’ll get more respect on future steal attempts. Keep the attempts down to every second or third time you get the opportunity to attempt one.
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