Over the last few months we’ve discussed many aspects of tournament strategy, but for this instalment I’d like to cover short-handed play. By this I don’t mean the six-handed games you can get on the internet, or even the five-handed tables that you can find on newer sites such as Virgin Poker, but the three or four-handed situations that occur just before you go heads-up.

Playing with three or four people can be tricky for a new player; obviously there’s a big difference between playing in a full ring game, but it’s also very different to heads-up. With fewer players at the table there won’t be as many premium hands out there, but you can still get caught if you don’t watch your hand selection and carefully gauge your opponents’ strength post-flop.