newbie help

i have recently been playing lots of short handed poker, but i was wondering if anyone could suggest a general outline of what starting hands are a good idea to play, i know chip stack, position, and reads all matter but just as a general rule of thumb maybe?

NOT 27 OFFSUIT THAT IS A BAD HAND!

be tight out of position, but raise alot on the button

Sklansky has defined starting hand requirements and you can view these on most poker sites. It is too big a question to answer on this format. Stick with the main 2 categories to start with unless you can let go of mediocre hands when they dont really connect.

Sklansky has defined starting hand requirements and you can view these on most poker sites. It is too big a question to answer on this format. Stick with the main 2 categories to start with unless you can let go of mediocre hands when they dont really connect.

pairs, suited aces, and all hands that can make TWO DIFFERENT top pair hands (example QJ). Any hand that can only make one top pair (example A5o) sucks, and should almost never be played.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTED

I've found it just takes a lot of experience to really make confident decisions consistently but basically here are some standard things I like to do :

-chuck meh hands like KJ and A10 in early position (always raise them from the cut off or button)

-almost never limp (some successful players advocate limping with certain shortstack ninjas at your table but I don't) and punish limpers when you're in position with reasonable hands (like QJ+, 88+)

-reraise a fair amount in the blinds to a cutoff or button raise

-If you're out of position (esp SB/BB) be reluctant to flat-call big broadways like QJ or AJ. Unless you're willing to play some intense, read-based poker after the flop this is what I'd consider "advanced" play.

-Call suited connectors either
1- in early position after utg player raises. Unless there's a monster hand behind you, your call will elicit overcalls by lots of ppl who will be thinking "ooh pot odds!" and set up a nice big juicy pot for your SC's

2- as an overcall (after there's been a raise and a call your SC's are almost never underdogs in terms of preflop equity)

If you want a "chart" type thing, I think Phil Gordon's short-handed chart in his "Little Green Book" is pretty decent