What is the strategy of the Short Stacker?

I have question, and, maybe you can answer it...maybe you are this type of player and you can tell me exactly what the upside of short stacking is?

I see players playing at my stakes 50NL and 100Nl (and i suspect many other stakes as well) that buy in for maybe 25% of the max....but always re-laod when they get felted.

So, this tells me they have more money...and, they multi-table with these short stacks...it makes no real sense to me?

They play in an extremely predictable way...any made handthey three bet almost anyone with 10's or better and if they see a flop, they go all in at the first chance. If they win, they leave the table, if they lose, they re-load.


For me, I want the max buy at a table so i can get max value from my good hands...is this like the reverse strategy, trying to minimize loss instead of maximizing gain?


I am just curious...not that i want anyone to stop short stacking, because I make money off of these guys.

You want the max buy at a table so you can get the max value from good hands but if it fails you lose the max instead of the min.
I buy in min everytime for that reason....totally opposite, so I guess cup 1/2 full cup 1/2 empty just all the way you look at it. I don't understand the mult-table short stakin either but if they were not coming out ahead so many would not be doing it and keep doing it

Yes, that is the real heart of my question...i suppose it has to be working for people because, they keep doing it. No one is going to plan and execute a strategy of failure over such a long period of time...thus, there has to be success.

I have a tendency to do really well against short stackers, so, i suppose I have a bit of a dissmissive bent to my thoughts on the subject.

But, I'd really like to hear about this from the multi table short stacker perspective.

Most short stackers have a chart with position and hands to raise with, more often than not they're looking to push all in. They basically play push/fold poker and would have no idea how to play post flop. A lot of people hate them but I'm not fussed. It can be frustrating hitting a big hand and not getting paid off on it though. When you're heads up against a short stack it pretty much makes you a short stack as well.

I basically call their 3bet raise knowing they have a PP or an A* depending on their position and see what the flop brings, they'll usually push all in even if the flop missed them so it's easy to take money from them in the long run (just not much of it!)

See this thread. You have to wade through alot of posts, but there are several extremely good posts describing ss strategy and why people play a ss strategy.

RING: Why do people NOT like short stackers?

People can have various reasons for playing short stacks, but I think one thing that's common to most if not all is that they don't mind (or maybe even like) high variance. Basically, they play for their entire stack every time they enter a pot, so the idea is simply to have the better hand more often than not (enough to offset the rake), which results in a net profit. That's somewhat of a simplification because it doesn't take into account when they bet out and everyone folds.

If you listen to podcasts, check out the 2+2 PokerCast from last week. They interviewed a well known short-stacker. Pretty good insight into the strategy/thought process behind this style.

Also, sorry about plugging another site but they do a great podcast. I hope nobody takes it the wrong way...I'm sure not a shill for their site, I just wanted to pass along some timely/relevant info that comes straight from the horses mouth.

Short stack strategy (SS) is a very mathematical TAG strategy. Because you are short stacked, deep stacks don't have the implied odds to play low suited connectors or pairs.

SS strategy works best when 7 or more players are deep stacked. If you see more than three people in a ring game playing SS, they are poor SS players.

It also is very strict in its bankroll management. Buy in is approximately 20BB and bankroll is approximately 600BB.

Thanks...a lot of what has been said is what I guessed at, now confirmed. Short stack is not for me...i don't like the ultra-math heavy style of game play. However, I can understand where it is profitable.

Thanks for the tip. I did not know about that podcast and am always interested in checking out new sites, strategies, and other information. I just can't seem to get enough of this game.

There is a beginning Hold 'Em book (Getting Started in Hold 'Em, by Ed Miller) that essentially guarantees you will make money if you only play short stack, only play big pairs, bet 4-5 times the BB preflop and push after the flop. Miller claims people have programmed bots to do this, and been successful.

I play a shortstack because I think people misunderestimate my skill level on the basis of the shortstack. I minbet with big hands, they figure I'm scared-money, and come over the top when I have them crushed. Then I have a big stack and play normal.