A short-handed game is one where there are only a few players at the table. The most extreme example of a short-handed game is when there are only two players at a table - this is known as playing "heads-up." Playing in a short-handed game is very different fom playing at a full table of ten players.

It should be clear that, in a short-handed game, you do not normally need such a good hand to win the pot as you do with a full table. Additionally, in short handed games, probability can be less important and psychology and aggression far more important than in other games. This is especially the case in heads-up games.

Consider this: With a full table, you normally have to have a good hand to bet, since when you bet it is highly likely that someone at the table will have a good enough hand to call you or even raise you. Thus, your betting behaviour will generally be dominated by considerations of how likely your hand is to be the bet hand at the time or the likelihood you can draw the cards that you need to get the best hand.

At the other extreme, in a heads-up game, there will be a large proportion of hands where neither player has any cards to write home about. The player who can dominate these hands through an ability to read his opponent and through aggressive play may well end up winning the game, especially if he can also recognise when his opponent really does have a good hand and he himself needs to fold. This is even more likely to be the case in heads-up tournament play where, since blinds are regularly increased, the ability to steal these blinds becomes extremely important.

Consider a heads-up game of Texas Hold 'Em. Suppose you make a bet before the flop and your opponent calls. When the flop comes up, the likelihood is that your opponent has not made a pair (other than, perhaps, a pair on the board, which you have aswell, of course!). This is even more likely to be the case if your opponent is first to act and he checks.

Thus, your betting in a heads-up game becomes largely dominated by whether you can smell weakness in your opponent rather than whether you have good cards yourself. Often, you will be able to spot a reasonably clear pattern in his betting behaviour. For example, your opponent may nearly always check when he doesn't hit anything on the flop and then fold when you bet. Alternatively, he may call a small bet on the flop with almost anything, but fold if you make a bigger bet. He may nearly always call a small bet on the flop, but then fold if you continue to bet on the turn and he still has nothing. Your ideal opponent in a heads-up game would be a timid player. You can steal lots of pots off him with small bets and if he raises you, you can be pretty sure he has a good hand.

If you are sensible, you will probably start out playing in low stakes games. Typically, you may play No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em where the blinds are just 10c and 20c. Your maximum buy-in is $20, although I recommend that to start with, you buy in for between $7 and $10. These low stakes games tend to play rather differently from bigger stakes games.

The key difference is this: In "bigger" games, players tend to make bets in proportion to the pot. They wouldn't bet $100 into a pot that only had $5 in it. If they had a great hand, their huge bet would give them away, and everyone would probably fold, which is not what they want. They would probably only get called if someone had a better hand (or, perhaps, the same hand). If they are bluffing, then it is a ridiculously huge risk to take just to win $5.

In low stakes games, things are very different. There are many occassions when you can make a huge, disproportionate bet and have a good chance of getting called by players with a worse hand.

For example, suppose you have KK and you make a huge pre-flop raise. Your huge bet should give you away and ensure you only get called if someone has AA. However, in low stakes games, many players will simply refuse to fold hands like QQ, JJ, TT or AK. Some loose players will refuse to fold any pair or any high suited cards (mainly because they "look pretty"). They will call even an all-in bet with such hands.

If you don't bet big before the flop with KK, then you may have missed your opportunity. Suppose another player has JJ He will probably call an all-in bet before the flop. However, if there is an Ace, King or Queen on the flop, he might then fold his JJ and you will get no more money out of him.

Another big opportunity to bet big and get called is on the flop. Many players will call even a huge bet if they hit top pair. (i.e. they pair the top card on the flop). If you have a set, two pairs, an overpair (a pocket pair bigger than the top card on the flop) or even top pair with a good kicker, you can often make a big bet or raise and get called by an inferior hand.

Another of the key differences in low stakes games is this: In the "bigger" games, there wil often be a more substantial bet placed before the flop (often with hands like AK or AQ) and fewer people will call this bet to see the flop. In low stakes games, a large proportion of players will want to see the flop as cheaply as possible and because the blinds are so small, many players will be prepared to call the big blind with almost any sort of hand, hoping to see a miracle on the flop. So there will be many hands where there is no preflop raising and lots of people call to see the flop with almost any hand.

Even if you make a moderate bet, there may still be lots of callers hoping for a miracle on the flop. This is bad play by them and will probably win you money in the long run. However, you need to be aware that players could pay to see the flop with almost anything. If the flop is 3 5 7, you can't totally rule out the possibility that someone called a preflop bet with 4 6 and they now have a straight. Most likely, they will have called with 4 6 suited simply because the cards were suited. They may have no idea that their chances of hitting a flush are very small.

More likely, however, than someone hitting a miracle hands is that they will hit only a moderate hand and will pay you off if you have hit a good hand. Because they have been calling pre-flop with hands like A6 or K7, you will often find that someone has top pair with a poor kicker. If you have top pair and a top kicker or a better hand, you can easily get paid off.

You, of course, will not call even a small pre-flop bet when you have a rubbish hand. You can wait for good hands. You may, however, choose to see the flop cheaply even when you have a good hand like AK. It isn't good enough to make a huge preflop raise and if you make a smaller raise you may get called by almost anything and you won't know where you are. If you see the flop cheaply, you can wait till you make a big hand on the flop because when you do you may well be paid off hansomly.

Loose and tight players

In many low stakes games, you will often find yourself in a situation where most people at the table are playing far too loosely. They are entering into far too many hands and are betting and calling with moderate rather than genuinally good hands.

Your winning tactics in this situation should be obvious. You merely need to wait for a good hand and bet and you will almost certainly get callers. If you can guarantee getting callers when you have a good hand, you should easily make a good profit. You may actually maximise your profits by betting a little more loosely yourself than you usually should - though not as loosely as your opponents. This is because being in more hands will enable you to take advantage of your opponents' weaknesses more often.

So, what do you do if you are sitting at a table full of "rocks" - players who only bet or call with very strong hands? Well, clearly, when someone bets, you will normally fold straight away, since a bet from a tight player is a good indication they have a very good hand. This saves you a lot of money. However, if you are to make a profit, you can't just play like a rock like everyone else - you either need to somehow get them to call when you have a good hand yourself or you need to steal the occasional pot or both.

If, by placing a small bet, you can steal the occasional pot, this itself may enable you to make a good profit by the end of the evening. The frequency by which you keep betting may itself make your opponents think you are bluffing. If you want to be crude, you can sometimes show them your cards when you bluff. This behaviour may start to tempt people into calling you when you do have a good hand. If this starts happening, you can revert back to playing more tightly. To get people to call a big bet, you may have to start off with a smaller bet to lure your opponents in. Once they are "committed to the pot" with a moderate bet, they may fall for the trap of betting more, especially if they are suspicious that you are bluffing.

In some games, many players employ the tactic of trying to standardise their betting.

For example, if they bet preflop, they typically bet three or four times the size of the big blind. Such a bet is often referred to as "the standard raise." They may bet this amount whether they have AA, JJ or only AQ. If they decide to bet on the flop, they may, for example, make a pot-sized bet, whether they have a great hand or only a moderate one.

Some online poker rooms provide statistics to give you a rough idea of how "loose" a table is. For example, they may say what percentage of players, on average, see the flop in Texas Hold' Em - in theory, the higher the percentage, the "looser" that table probably is, and the better your chance of making a decent profit. Don't be over-reliant on these statistics, however! They can often give a false impression. In many low stakes games, for example, there is little preflop raising and lots of players, even very good ones, will call to see the flop cheaply. This doesn't mean that it is necessarily easy to make a good profit at these tables.

Some sites also provide you with statistics about your own play. For example, they will tell you what percentage of flops you see or what percentage of showdowns you win. These can be useful in telling you whether you might be getting involved in too many pots, but may be deceptive as they often don't take into account how many people were at the table when you were playing.

There are some much more sophisticated programmes that you can buy on the web, such as "Poker Tracker." Some of these can give you a much more detailed analysis of how you play and where you are winning/losing money. They can also analyse the play of your opponents.

Many poker sites allow you to play on more than one table at once. Some even have a special "mini-view" to enable you to see the action on several tables at once. Otherwise, you may have to "flick" between tables by clicking each table with the mouse. Usually, the software will warn you when it is your turn to act - your computer will probably bleep at you and bring to the foreground the table where it is your turn to act. There is, of course, nothing to stop you playing on one table on one poker site and on another table on a completely different site, although this could get confusing and could slow up your internet connection.

So should you be playing on more than one table at once?

To start with, probably not of course, but as you become more experienced it may well be worth a try. Many experienced players will "multi-table." They can potentially double or treble their profits by playing two or more tables at once.

You should be aware, however, that playing on more than one table can adversely affect the quality of your play on each table, especially as sometimes you will have a big hand on two tables at the same time. Also, you clearly have more opponents to keep an eye on, making it more difficult to read their plays correctly.

Multitabling is easier if there are lots of people on each table. Playing Hold 'Em on two full tables of ten players is relatively easy, since you will not be involved in most pots. However, playing heads-up on two tables at once is definitely something to avoid as you are having to act nearly all the time. Similarly, playing games like 7-card stud on more than one table is extremely difficult - there are just too many face up cards to keep an eye on and remember.

So, if you are a good, experienced player, you can increase your profits by playing on two tables at once, but because the quality of your play may not be quite so high, you may not be able to actually double your profits this way.

One other point to consider, however, is this: Some players may run the risk of getting bored if they only play at a single table. This is especially the case if they are playing at a full table of ten players, since they will probably be folding the vast majority of hands before even seeing the flop. If they get bored, they might then start playing loosely - getting involved in too many pots just to keep themselves interested - and they start losing money. Multi-tabling can be an excellent cure to this problem, giving them more to do and thus preventing them from being tempted to play with rubbish hands. Their play might actually improve when they multi-table.