Mila2

You should not play a game where the other players are tough, good players but there are times when a game gets temporarily short-handed and you will want to keep the game going even though you are only competing against tough players. You can do this if you know it is a temporary situation and that other, weak players will show up soon. Against tough rivals, not only you find it difficult to win consistently, but you will also tend to experience more in your results.

Hand domination is the important when playing against tough players. You need to have the best hand. When you are short-handed, then it sometimes doesn't take much to have the best hand. A 9 is a big card in a short-handed game.

A hand that has two cards, 9 or larger, is worth opening with a raise. A single Ace has enough high-card value on its own that it is worth opening with a raise with any suited Ace and unsuited Ace as long as the kicker is 7 or higher. A King doesn't have the high-card value of an Ace but suited Kings with a kicker at a 6 or higher are generally worth playing. Some of the medium connectors are also worth playing even though they don't have much high-card value for example 86.