Playing High Ante Short Holdem Poker
To play a session of high ante short handed hold'em you have to
be sure of some poker essential qualities like: playing the
other's hand, understanding position and being aggressive when
you should be.
Let's say you are playing a session of no limit Texas hold'em
and the table must be short handed - this simply means there are
free sits at the table that no one has occupied yet. The ideal
table for this is the table with 4 or maybe as high as 5
opponents. Now, ante means that you bet pre flop, at the same
time the blinds are placed. You decide to ante on the pre flop
and your ante bet is equal to the small bet. Let's consider the
table you are playing on is a $2/$4 table, this means your ante
has been of $2.
The antes, as forced bets for everyone have as a purpose to make
people put money in the pot and to stimulate activity at the
poker table. To prove the point of this article we will have to
consider you are playing every hand, no matter what are the
raises on the pre flop (unless they are way too big since that
is possible this being no limit poker). This forces you to stop
worrying about the pre flop value of hands and gets you right to
the flop and post flop stages, the parts that actually make the
whole game. You will also have to be aggressive because the bets
will be high and the players are just some.
You have in this situation you are in to try and play your
opponents. You have to make them to draw for a hand to beat you.
At all times don't check only call or bet. Playing the others
means actually to try and play their hands. If you can correctly
evaluate their hands then yours doesn't matter so much because
you already know what you are against and you can beat them.
Try to do this sometimes and you will see that overall in that
session, if you played right, you will register a winning. Just
think of it as an exercise that has to be done because there is
the possibility that without bring forced you will never try and
play aggressive and "reckless", playing the players instead of
playing your own hands. This helps you develop your
aggressiveness and improves your way of seeing the opponents.