short stack strategy

vinylspiros

vinylspiros

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can someone explain to me the concept of short stack strategy and how it works?
which hands do you play and how do you play them? is it like being short stacked in alate stage of a tourney? is that what we do? im talking about cash games obviously. i would like someone to give me the runaround on shortstack strategy. what we play? how we play it ? and how this strategy is profitable.? thanks so much for anyone who can help here. i wanna get into the mindframe of a shortstack strategy player in order to see how and why people use this .is it shove or fold? etc etc

it would be great if i could get info from someone who has actually used this method and has profited from it too. or someone who actually knows alot about it.
 
forsakenone

forsakenone

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the most efficient shot stack strategy is to rebuy to 100bb.
 
Lucothefish

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the most efficient shot stack strategy is to rebuy to 100bb.

I agree but OP wants to understand short stack, not apply it.

I have never done it and prolly never will but I know someone who did it profitably for several months. It's mostly about SPR manipulation iirc... TP type hands go up in value and drawing / implied odds hands go down. It gives less room to manoeuvre for both you and your opponent (floating, for example) and although you win less when you stack off good, you lose less when you make a mistake. You will often get looked up lighter when you push all in too.

Basically post flop decision making is easier for you. You're often all in on flop or turn and you can really play tight aggressive with your best hands. But personally I'd feel sick only getting half a stack if I flopped a boat.
 
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Zin

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Wait for a premium hand and shove that's it. Short stack strategy takes most decisions out of the game, its basically shove or fold.
 
Beanfacekilla

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Wait for a premium hand and shove that's it. Short stack strategy takes most decisions out of the game, its basically shove or fold.


Not necessarily. It depends how short we are talking here. It also depends on table dynamics.

Sometimes we can go to a flop, hit TPTK, and get value from weak drawing hands. Often times FDs/straight draws just don't get there, but they will try.

If we are at 50 BBs, we can still play poker. Not just AI/fold.
 
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Blown01Cobra

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In ring games the short stack strategy is foolish because you are completely at the mercy of the poker gods and if they choose to give you powerful pocket cards and community cards...and then you have to do that several times.


However, in tournament play, at some point or another it is inevitable to end up short. In which case you have to play absolute premium cards or find a perfect opportunity to squeeze in a big bluff. Often, you get to a point in a tournament where if you're short stacked you just have to take a gamble and hope it works if only to save yourself from ending up later in the game in even worse position against larger stacks.
 
vinylspiros

vinylspiros

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I agree but OP wants to understand short stack, not apply it.

I have never done it and prolly never will but I know someone who did it profitably for several months. It's mostly about SPR manipulation iirc... TP type hands go up in value and drawing / implied odds hands go down. It gives less room to manoeuvre for both you and your opponent (floating, for example) and although you win less when you stack off good, you lose less when you make a mistake. You will often get looked up lighter when you push all in too.

Basically post flop decision making is easier for you. You're often all in on flop or turn and you can really play tight aggressive with your best hands. But personally I'd feel sick only getting half a stack if I flopped a boat.
youve made some interesting points here my friend. thanks alot. yea i see what your saying(get called lighter,etc etc). i persoanlly never use it as i have autorebuy on always lately,but wanted to see if it works and maybe give it a shot for a change.
 
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SS strategy is based purely on hand ranges and little to no post flop action. Because we're so short; of course it makes sense you can no longer set mine/play suited connectors or middling cards etc profitably by calling raises or 3bets or whatever pre flop vs you "avg" villain type.

This essentially means your hand ranges are narrowed down purely to the villian you're up against. If for example; you're up against a nit who opens UTG; you can happily fold your middle pair in the CO because flatting or jamming over the top is never going to be profitable vs this guy. However; if you have a loose tard opening 50% UTG, shoving 88 for example is going to be profitable. If you have a guy who opens MP quite wide but folds a TON to 3bets, you can 3bet jam a wider range of hands to make it +EV etcetc. Many different examples of these but I think you will know what I mean..

In a nutshell; SS requires good hand range reading ability where you can put the villain on a specific amount of hands when he does his action. Once you can establish this, you then make the correct move in regards to your hand/position at the table.


ps: After all this has been said, how "short" are we talking here? I'm talking based on 25bb< or shorter poker.
 
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RamdeeBen

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Wait for a premium hand and shove that's it. Short stack strategy takes most decisions out of the game, its basically shove or fold.

Yeah this is quite wrong. I used to think this; but actually the game is actually quite a well skilled variant not just shove/fold.

I mean, it's the mentality of players who say SS poker is just "shove/fold" who are actually the ones who make the games profitable.

There is so many different creative plays you can still achieve playing a SS game.
 
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