The purpose of this page is to explain some troublesome situations that may appear in shorthand Fixed-Limit Texas Holdem games. This article provides valuable tips and practical examples of some of the most frequent game situations and solutions.

Small pocket pairs (77 or lower).

Preflop strategy:

Small pocket pairs work well in large, multi-way pot Limit Texas Holdem games, when you hope to hit a trip, or in a heads-up game. Hence, your preflop strategy should reflect this concept. If you are the dealer, one of your opponents raised and another folded, then the best strategy in this case is to shut out the blinds and make it heads-up. Therefore in this case you should reraise. However, if you are on the Big Blind position and other opponents have already called the big blind, then you should better check and hope to hit something worthy on the flop.

Note that you shouldn’t use reraise to go heads-up against a tight player, because there is a good chance that he has a better pocket pair. He’ll definitely dominate you and squeeze you out of the game. For instance, you wouldn’t want to reraise holding 88, when your opponent holds 99. Reraise only works, when you think that your opponent has some unpaired connectors, or a lower pair than you.

Flop strategy in Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games:

If you participate in a multi-way pot, then the strategy is as simple as follows: consider folding if you didn’t hit a set and be aggressive if you did. The only exception for this strategy is if you are lucky to hit some really weird flop: something like 662, or 888, when you hold something like 55 – you’ve probably got the best hand and should grab the pot, unless someone has a better pocket pair.

In case if you are playing heads-up, the strategy gets a little more complex. If the board is mainly low cards – benefit from this situation and bet. Your only opponent probably has nothing worthy and you can jam the pot. However, if the flop is something like A, Q and J, then you’re probably done. You may try to bet, or call hoping that your opponent has some low pocket pair too, but if you encounter any resistance from his side – just fold.

Flop bluffs applied in Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games:

The following flop bluffs applied in Limit Texas Holdem work best when playing against one, or maybe two players. The bluffing method applied in this case is fairly simple. Take a look at the following example:

You have K of spades and Q of diamonds and the board is A of spades, 9 of hearts and 5 of diamonds. Say, you’ve raised preflop. You have completely missed the flop without getting even a drawing flush, or something, but there is a chance that your opponent have missed the flop too. Bet at this possibility and try to steal the pot at this point.

If your opponents will just call you, then you have a decision. Your opponents may have some drawing hands like A and low kicker, or suited high and low cards (say, K and 9 of clubs). In both cases you are losing, so you should generally check and fold in about 80% of times. However, you shouldn’t allow them to simply break your bluffing strategy by calling you at the flop and watching your actions at the turn.

Hence, slowplaying should be considered as an occasional trick. For instance, if you have suited A and 9 of diamonds and the same flop, then you can bet at the flop and then check-rise on the turn. That means that you must punish those opponents, who call you on the flop, while holding a drawing or a second best hand and hoping that you bluff – you should force them to raise to see where they actually are. If you suspect them calling you with some low pair, or simply with the second-best hand, then you should consider betting up to the river, when you have the goods, but you should avoid check-folding all the time if you don’t. Try bluffing on the turn sometimes, but do this occasionally, even rare. This bluffing strategy works best in higher Limit Texas Holdem games ($5/$10 and higher), because in low-limit games players tend to call you anyway.

Slowplaying in Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games.

Although I’m not a fan of this method, because I prefer to use the flop bluffs, which only work out fine if you bet with the goods on the flop, but sometimes it is better to simply wait to jam the pot. I usually prefer to slowplay in multi-way pots, when I really hold something worthy. For example:

Say you hold suited A and K of clubs, the flop is A of spades, K of hearts, 3 of diamonds and the turn brings A of hearts. It is obvious that you have the nuts. What you should do in this case is just wait for a bet and then raise it. Both slowplaying and jamming the pot at the turn can appear to be extremely profitable, especially in multi-way pots, but I wouldn’t recommend both in heads-up games. For instance, in the same situation, your opponent holding a K may call your bet, but won’t likely bet himself. Here are two situations, where slowplaying works best:

• when you hold the nuts

• when your opponent is able to draw a strong hand, but not stronger than yours

Also remember that slowplaying with some good drawing hand at the board is foolish, because you actually allow your opponents to draw a hand that is better than yours. When slowplaying, you must be able to answer a question: What hands can my opponents build that won’t beat me, but will still make them bet, so I can raise these bets? That’s why you should avoid slowplaying with any good hand you hold – do it just when both above conditions are met.

Now let’s take a look at more troublesome situations that may appear in Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games. Take a look at the following example:

Say there is a paired flop and you hold the third card. For example you hold suited A and J of clubs and the board is A of diamonds, Q of spades and Q of hearts. Although this may look simple and you might be very happy seeing such flop, but this is a troublesome situation. You may be either holding the strongest hand, or you may be toast. What you should do in this situation is watch other players’ moves. If they check – check too, because they have nothing to call you with. The only people who will call you in this situation are someone who has something like A8 or some trashy pocket pair.

Hence, when you appear in such a troublesome situations, you need to consider two important factors: what can they call you with that won’t beat your hand and what are the chances that one of your opponents has a trip? The higher the flop is, the bigger is the chance that someone has the trip. For example if you hold suited K and J and, then AAJ is a way scarier flop than J33. As for me, I would play AAJ cautiously, while I’d be rather aggressive, when playing J33.

This situation raises a question: what did I mean by cautious play? I mean that if you have suited K and J and one of your opponents bets you with the AAJ flop, then he may have something like QJ, so you better go ahead and call. But if the same player bets, you call them and then he raises to you, then you better fold.

How to play against crazy maniacs?

This is a good question, because such players can be a real headache in Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games. You can beat them by simply calling them to the river, but you should consider raising, when holding the nuts in order to attract more money into the pot. Although they’ll increase the variance of the game, but you will definitely beat them in the long run. Take a look at the following example, which I had just a couple of weeks ago:

I had QQ, which is a nice starting hand, the second player called and the “maniac�? raised. I reraised and the maniac capped and there was still one “normal�? player in the pot. The flop came A of hearts, K of clubs and 4 of hearts, which is simply terrible for me. I went ahead and bet. First opponent folded and the maniac raised. Usually I wouldn’t continue and fold, but though I knew this player is so crazy, I’ve check-called him up to the river and won, because this fool had suited 5 and 3 of diamonds.

Try not to pay them off.

This is another trick that many Texas Holdem beginners ignore. Say, your opponent is on a flush draw, while you have some top pair. It is obvious that he’ll try to check-raise at the river. If you put your opponent on the flush draw and the flush card hits at the river, it isn’t necessary to pay him off. You should simply check down the river. Try to count. If you are in position and you check the river, then you are saving two big bets, or four small bets. Though there was probably a raise preflop and a bet on both flop and turn, you have contributed a total of five small bets. By checking the river you simply saved almost half of the chips you would otherwise lose.

What you should try to avoid:

• First of all, you shouldn’t go in with any A, if some of your opponents had already gone in, because there are good chances that they either hold a good pocket pair (Ax or KQ), which are favorite against your cards (except KQ). These hands will also play better than your cards in three-way situations. Just fold.

• Don’t cross the bounds of your bankroll, because Limit Texas Holdem shorthand games have higher level of variance. Check your bankroll before entering shorthands and make sure that your bankroll can handle many hours of play. You don’t want to enter the game, get cracked on a couple of controversial hands and get forced out, do you?

• Don’t concentrate on your cards all the time – always try to evaluate your opponents. Although evaluating other players is not as important as it is in No-Limit Texas Holdem, you should think of your opponents’ cards: what did they went in with and what are they calling with. And don’t always decide that they’re bluffing, because most of times they don’t.

Also recommended:

1. Limit Texas Holdem Strategy for Shorthand Games
2. Advanced No-Limit Texas Holdem Strategy
3. Limit Texas Holdem Strategy for Longhand Games
4. Low Limit Omaha Strategy
5. Introduction to Advanced No-Limit Texas Holdem