short-handed cash games...help

[Schneider 0]

I play in a 3-handed cash game with a couple of my buddies once in a while. These guys think they are good but they aren't. They're the types of players who will call your all in with KTo quickly and with pride. I have read most of the notable poker books out there and have an above average understanding of the game. By no means am I great but I am better than these two guys. If we all played in a full table they wuold be broke fast and I would be making money.However, when we play just us 3 I lose more than I win. I usually go broke when I get my money in with the best hand and it gets drawn out on. Thats fine though. I can live with that i guess. My problem is just playing pots short handed with these guys. Does anyone have a good strategy to beat this type of game. I tend to play fairly loose when its just us 3, calling more hands than I normally would. I think I have problems with my post flop play. Anyways, some help would be greatly appreciated.

[Smasharoo 0]

They're the types of players who will call your all in with KTo quickly and with pride. That's not that bad of a play 3 handed in many situations.Not realizing that is probably why you have trouble with these games.

[Schneider 0]

I understand that. What I meant is that they will call with this hand in a full game. I'm just trying to give an idea of how these guys are. They have no knowledge of position, pot odds, etc. in full table games and they think any two big cards means they have the best hand. I understand KT is a pretty goo dhand with 3 players.I'm trying to figure out how to beat this type of player when we are playing short handed.

[justblaze 0]

I tend to play fairly loose when its just us 3, calling more hands than I normally would.

try raising with more hands than you normally would.

[Schneider 0]

I raise more and flat-call more. It's my post flop play that needs work.

[jayistheman 0]

does that mean you simply fold less?

[Schneider 0]

It means I play more hands than I normally would at a full table.

[troutsmart 0]

I have a question about the structure that you're using. You might be getting beat simply because the game isn't set up right. Do you do a mini tourney where each player starts with a certain amount of chips and blinds increase? Do you simply play cash, and if so, what amount of chips and blinds do you use? I play in a weekly game that has a horrible structure if you ask me. I play simply because I enjoy the social activity, and if I do get chips, it can be fun when we do get shorthanded. We buy-in for just $10 and get 40 chips valued at .25 each. Blinds are .25/.50. This means that starting out, my first raise is 15-20% of my stack. Since we get 10-14 players, I have time to wait around for a good hand and get what stack I have left in, and hope it holds up. If I get above $25, I can start opening up a little and then the game becomes quite good.I simply illustrate that structure is very important. We've played 3 handed with the above mentioned setup and in my opinion, skill goes out the window. You simply cannot outplay an opponent unless you have chips to do so.So, is the structure allowing you to beat this game?

[Smasharoo 0]

I'm trying to figure out how to beat this type of player when we are playing short handed.See more flops with marginal hands, get as much money as possible in with big hands preflop.You'll make most of your money from terrible pre-flop calls from them and from exploiting massive edges postflop with fairly well disguised hands.

[akishore 0]

you didn't specify, but i think your game is NL, right?in both limit and NL shorthanded games, aggression is very important. in NL games, however, keeping a check on your aggression is much more important. the biggest weapon in NL cash games is trapping.that said, you don't want to simply trap everytime you have a good hand and bet everytime you don't. because of this, bluffing is also an integral part of the game, ESPECIALLY short-handed (though it's also more blurred... betting with AK into a flop of T74 can also be considered value betting since you likely still have the best hand).because bluffing is important, your biggest edge in these games comes from recognizing betting patterns and physical tells.read caro's book of poker tells and study the psychology of poker--that's the simple answer to improving in these games.next to that, be aggressive with decent hands but be ready to lay them down--even if you're getting bluffed out of a pot. you will make up for it ten hands down the row when you pick up AA and you trap them for a huge pot. this concept is called "priming"--letting go of multiple small pots, but winning a few big ones.also remember that your opponents are studying you too, even if they don't realize it. if you raise preflop then check to them on the flop, that just reeks of trap, and they'll most likely see it too. don't make your plays obvious, e.g. overbetting the pot on bluffs or betting 1/5 of the pot for value.finally, experience is the easiest way to improve. you're losing... so study hands which you lost big pots in. don't give yourself the lame excuse of thinking that every time you lose it's because you got outdrawn. that might be true many times, but if you're a consistent loser, you're doing something wrong.good luck,aseem

[Schneider 0]

Yeah this is just a .25/.50 NL game. Thanks for the posts guys. This is just one major leak in my game. It's frustrating losing to players that have a very basic knowledge of the game and spend little to no time trying to improve and learn more.GL