Short Handed Poker : DrawingDrawing hands are my second
greatest love next to sets when it comes to poker hands. The feeling
of hitting a draw can be exhilarating, but most people either pay
too much for them or make it obvious when they hit. There are ways
to avoid falling into either trap. Here are my guidelines for
when to call big bets on draws: - Your opponent has a big
stack. Ex: His stack size is $600 and he bets $30-$40 on the
flop.
- You know your opponent is aggressive and is prone
to going all-in. Ex: You have observed he's a maniac, going
all-in quite frequently.
I'm not advocating that you
call huge bets to hit a draw. Call small to medium sized bets, and
if your opponent is sitting with a lot of money, call bigger bets.
If your opponent is small stacked, it's not worth hitting the draw
because you won't get a good enough payoff from it. This strategy
uses implied odds, not pot odds.
Use Implied OddsIn SHNL cash games, throw your odds
calculator away, it's useless. Instead, always use implied odds.
This means predicting whether or not you'll get his all-in if you
hit. That's why I like to draw against maniacs who get themselves
pot committed and are prone to going all-in. People often say
I'm a fish because I get all-in calls frequently and bust people,
yet I seem to make money doing it. Let me simplify the method to my
madness. If you try to play only the nuts in SHNL cash games, you'll
never get paid. Not only that, aces frequently get cracked by good
players who call pre-flop raises with suited cards and pairs, or
fish who draw out on you.
Frankly, most
people playing SHNL cash games are using a strategy that's geared
for Limit play. Players who come from either Limit games or Sit and
Go tournaments only raise the best hands pre-flop and wonder why
they never get any action. You can learn to manipulate these
easy-to-read players and watch them crumble. They'll frequently get
their aces cracked because top pairs go down in value when all of
your chips are at risk.
Drawing in SHNL cash games pays huge
dividends. If you learn to draw for the right price, you'll also
become a SHNL cash game pro. | 
