Forget about everything you’ve read about general Texas Holdem strategies because when it comes to short handed turbo poker tournaments, it’s a whole different game. In this article, I want to teach you about playing a 6 person sit and go game (no limit). These types of games provide a good way to earn money steadily without putting too much of your poker bankroll at risk. To win these games, you have to apply reverse poker psychology.

What do I mean by reverse poker psychology? Well, in traditional games where the blinds go slow and when you have 10 opponents at the table, most websites will advise you to play tight in early positions, to raise with strong hands, and to fold frequently. In a turbo setting with only 6 players at the table, things are different. With blinds going up every two minutes, you have to be aggressive.

Early on in the event, when blinds normally start at 10/20, you want to be involved in a lot of pots while it’s still affordable to do so. I will often raise with a mediocre hand simply to setup a bluff later on. For instance, I may raise to 40 with 8-10 as this indicates to other players that I probably have a strong starting hand. When the flop comes, if an Ace or king shows up, I’ll usually raise again if it seems like others are hesitant to put money in the pot. Doing gives the message that I actually hit my strong hand. Remember I raised pre-flop so others likely assume I have an ace, a pair or at two face cards. When the King hits the flop and I reraise, they’ll think I actually hit and they’ll usually fold. If only you knew how many pots I have stolen from bodog poker players with stupid hands like 7 high, even after the river. Boy some of these folks would certainly kick themselves pretty hard. But that’s what the game is all about isn’t it?

What’s interesting with this strategy is that when the flop reveals small cards and opponents assumed you had high cards, they’ll raise you, pretending they hit the flop (maybe they did actually), and they’ll try and make you fold. But in our example, what happens if the flop was 10-8-2? Well, you got two pairs my friend and absolutely nobody can suspect that you have such a strong hand at this point. Time to trap.

Because you’re involved in a lot of pots, and because you raise often, it’s just a matter of time before your opponents label you as a donkey, and probably rightly so! But here’s how you take advantage of that image. Again, this is reverse poker psychology! Say you get a really strong starting hand like KK. If you act early or in middle position, just call. If you are in later position and just a few are involved in the hand, just call. This gives the impression that you’re trying to catch a cheap flop, just like you’ve been doing frequently early on in the game when the blinds were not too expensive. Now you are in a perfect setting to trap! Let’s just hope that the flop will be nice to you and won’t show an Ace, a flush or straight potential. If so, then you want to end the hand asap either by making everyone fold, or by folding yourself if you feel you’re beaten.

When you are in lat position and a lot of people are in the pot, raise to get rid of some people. This works well because some opponents won’t give you any credibility because of how you’ve been playing, and they’ll assume you’re trying to steal the pot. Some will fold but others will simply not believe you and throw it right back in your face with a re-raise, which is exactly what you want. Time to put them all in!

When the blinds get to 50/100, it’s time to change your game. It’s getting too expensive to see a lot of pots so drop that strategy. Throw away weak hands when you are not in blinds positions and have no money invested in the pot. You want to change your table image and appear as tough you are tightening up. This is important because you’ll want to start stealing the blinds soon. They’re going to get expensive real fast! (blinds go up every 2-3 minutes in these games). When blinds are expensive, it becomes a game of outplaying your opponents. Sense weakness and raise to steal pots. Sense strength and back off when you have poor hands, or fight back when you have strong hands.

With 6 players, it’s much less about the cards you hold. You win these games with your ability to sense weakness or strength in your opponents. This tells you when to raise and when to back off, regardless of what cards you have. But more importantly, you win by tricking your opponents in having them guessing wrongly about the true strength of your hand. When they get burned a few times, suddenly they don’t feel like challenging you that much and it becomes easier for you to steal pots, even when they know you’ve been doing it.

The strategies I described above are really aggressive and if you play your game that way, you’ll find that your stack is in constant flux. You become the up and down player. This is only normal. You take huge risks and you sometimes win, you sometimes get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Don’t worry about it. You’ll bounce right back because it’s a lot easier to double up with a string hand when everyone thinks you’re bluffing way too much. To win, you also have to know when to back down. Even I still make this mistake sometimes. I convince myself that I can bluff someone out of a pot and I put too much money at risk and end up pot committing myself against a stronger hand. You'll make mistakes at first as well. What's important is that you learn from them! Once you gain confidence and experience, and you start winning these games, consider moving on to higher stakes. Good luck at the tables!