Why I am currently Short Stacking

dj11

dj11

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OK, keep in mind that I grew up playing tourney's. Perhaps my heart and soul are tourney oriented. But I can't find many tourney that please me these days.

Then I found BOOST on SB/BOL. I was not and still am not a full table cash fan. Luckily for me the only BOOST game that runs is the 6 max $10 max buy in.

I only buy in for the min $4. So that makes me a short stacker. I have the br on both to buy-in full, and there is nothing else on those sites that I'm gonna buy into. My brs came from CC freerolls. So it is essentially free money.

So why am I short stacking it?

Every day I have no idea how well I am playing. Yeah, that's sort of touchy feely, but at least I understand myself enough to notice it is a recurring thing.

I don't know if I am playing scared, I don't know if I feel lucky, and I'm never sure my math skills are in high gear or not. Yet I feel the urge to play.

By starting out short, I can fill in some of those daily blanks, without doing major harm to my BR.

I know the arguments against doing so, Main one is 'missed opportunities'. Actually, I can't think of other arguments against short stacking, as they will mostly be variants of that one.

That $10 game is mostly passive, but I get a good shot at seeing who is more agro. Also, at this time, there is no known trackers for the BOOST game, so everyone is pretty much equally exposed as far as getting reads on them. Or them reading me.

Huge hands just don't happen often enough to justify missing the big one in the first 100 hands. Under most situations I have doubled up by those first 100 hands. In great sessions I have more than just doubled up. Once that happens no one notices me as short anymore. So those dare-devil bets into me stop happening so much.

In those not so pleasant sessions, I can still lose 2 of my short stack buy-ins and not feel totally inadequate. I can stop playing at that point for at least a couple of hours. I feel no need to continue just to prove something. What would I be proving anyway?

By short stacking early I am forcing myself to comply with what I already know to be a reasonably sound approach to the game.

I avoided most ring games for more of my poker days, so I have a lot to learn, and I am learning it fast, and without much loss as far as BR is concerned.

There are at least a few around here who think I am a terrible player. They may be right, but then the only reason I have deposited anywhere is to unlock the withdrawal process.

So, in summary;

- the lost opportunities issue is aq non issue for me. Those opportunities just don't happen often enough as I see, to justifying losing a full buy-in early in my session. Money not lest is money earned.
-coming in short makes me concentrate on what is happening, my mood, my gut feelings, and my ability to make rational decisions each time I start a session.
-by the time those issues are mostly resolved for the time being, I have either double up or I have busted out.

Downside to this approach?

-none that I can put a finger on as of now. I am open to the criticism I hope to see here. Like I said I am converting from tourney to ring games and I have a lot of catching up to do.
 
The Boss

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The downside to playing short-stacked is that you will not win as much money compared to having a larger stack. Furthermore, with a larger stack you have more leeway to outmaneuver the weaker opposition, which leads to getting more value.
 
This Fish Chums

This Fish Chums

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Switching from tournaments to speed poker

OK, keep in mind that I grew up playing tourney's.

Then I found BOOST on SB/BOL. I was not and still am not a full table cash fan. Luckily for me the only BOOST game that runs is the 6 max $10 max buy in.

I only buy in for the min $4. So that makes me a short stacker.

So why am I short stacking it?

I know the arguments against doing so, Main one is 'missed opportunities'. Actually, I can't think of other arguments against short stacking, as they will mostly be variants of that one.

I have doubled up by those first 100 hands. In great sessions I have more than just doubled up. Once that happens no one notices me as short anymore. So those dare-devil bets into me stop happening so much.

there is no known trackers for the BOOST game, so everyone is pretty much equally exposed as far as getting reads on them. Or them reading me.

First, I think you answer your own question about why it's bad to shortstack it. People see you as a shortstack and use "dare-devil" bets to push you out of hands. If those stop after a double-up, you should consider playing at a higher buy-in from the start.

Second, the main reason why you do much better in tournaments is because of your reading ability. In tournaments you play against a set number of players for various amounts of time. In a BOOST game you are playing against a various number of players for a set time. It's the complete opposite, so for a tourney player you are losing a great advantage. You are losing the opportunity to read people properly. I don't know how you solve that problem, but I think that's what's going on.

Thirdly, you lose the advantage of table image. NO ONE in speed poker is building a table image of you. For a tournament player this is a big part of their game and their success. If you want to be successful at speed poker, it is imperative that you lose the thought of being able to build a table image.


And in speed poker your stack can easily do this :icon_boun which you may not be used to in tournament play.
 
dj11

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Currently on the BOOST tables there are somewhere near 100 regs. I am taking notes. Average # of players is about 30. This is a small field, and the reads come faster, so as I see it, it is close to a tourney type read where we are at a table seldom more than 100 hands. Did I mention that currently no one has a HUD. PT4 doesn't work, and neither does Drive Hud.

Like I said, I find the balance of a quick double up vs the quick short buy-in bust doesn't balance given that on each day I firstly and foremostly have to evaluate myself, how I think I am playing, and how I am perceiving my reactions to luck (variance).

I don't stop when I double up. In good sessions I stay for 500 hands or so. Boost only allows single entries at this point. Since I can see them, they can see me. At this point they know I come in short. But they (most of them) have seen me with huge stacks and I get some respect from those regs. The table image part is still a work in progress.

And yes this :icon_boun is something I am learning to deal with.

I am up about 8 full buy-ins ($80) in the month or so I've been playing the BOOST tables. That's 20 short buy-ins. Might not be a lot, but changing from tourneys to ring is a work in progress.
 
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hugh blair

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Playing the short stack is all in or fold type poker can be great when you have second nuts and opponent has nuts not bad if you are patiently waiting for good cards though good luck
 
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AlexTheOwl

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The downside to playing short-stacked is that you will not win as much money compared to having a larger stack. Furthermore, with a larger stack you have more leeway to outmaneuver the weaker opposition, which leads to getting more value.

This assumes that the player would win if playing deep-stacked!
Playing deep-stacked profitably requires more post-flop skills, including post-flop hand reading and the ability to make big folds and multi-street bluffs.


When playing short-stacked, all of the money is likely to go into the pot pre-flop, or on the flop. Players whose pre-flop skills are stronger than post-flop skills often do better when short-stacked. Many beginning or recreational players fall into this category. Check out Flynn, Mehta, and Miller's two books for more info on this idea.


dj, you say you quit if you find out you are not playing well. Do you buy in for a bigger stack if you find that you are excelling?
 
dj11

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dj, you say you quit if you find out you are not playing well. Do you buy in for a bigger stack if you find that you are excelling?

It's mostly a daily thing. I know when I am not liking my play, but I don't know how I will play at the beginning of each session. So a big part of my strategy is figuring that out.


In those cases where I convince myself I've got my A game going, I won't need to buy-in big.
 
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Peter Jankowski

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I like to play short stack, even though may win less $, but if you suffer a bad beat or bad day playing less loss to deal with.
 
dj11

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Just this week, the BOOST games started allowing multiple entries up to 4. So now I start with 2 short stacks. I tried 4 on the first day, and decided it was more than I wanted to deal with..

Average players now closer to 40, with 55 entries.

The Boost game plays extremely fast, perhaps faster than ZOOM, it is way easier to fold and view the game than it is at a zoom table.

I am up a few buy-ins (short) over the last week. Yesterday I noticed an increase in agros, new names to me. It isn't a big stretch to adjust to them and that style.
 
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Is it worth considering that good regs won’t call your raises with their implied odds hands? I can see pros and cons to that.
 
Jooseme

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I feel playing short staked is too tedious. I tend to play much worse and make bad decisions
 
smerald

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Funny thing: I was just playing on BOL in this mode, saw you playing and noticed the short stack. Looked you up on here and, viola, now I know why you do it hahah.

As for the strategy, I prefer the max buy-in personally as I feel I can maximize winnings and I do not play as well short stacked. But if it is proven to work for you then I say you keep doing it!! Glad you found something that works. Well done!

Also have you had sustained success with this strategy?
 
dj11

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Funny thing: I was just playing on BOL in this mode, saw you playing and noticed the short stack. Looked you up on here and, viola, now I know why you do it hahah.

As for the strategy, I prefer the max buy-in personally as I feel I can maximize winnings and I do not play as well short stacked. But if it is proven to work for you then I say you keep doing it!! Glad you found something that works. Well done!

Also have you had sustained success with this strategy?

I had a nasty headache today, and shouldn't have even tried to play poker.

It is not proven, I am not a proven ring player. My credentials are tourney.

I haven't blown my wad on the BOOST tables, I am real streaky. I do have those +5 BI days, seeming followed by - 1 BI for 6 sessions.......
 
smerald

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I had a nasty headache today, and shouldn't have even tried to play poker.

It is not proven, I am not a proven ring player. My credentials are tourney.

I haven't blown my wad on the BOOST tables, I am real streaky. I do have those +5 BI days, seeming followed by - 1 BI for 6 sessions.......


Hahah yeah I have been there. Knowing you're not feeling too good and shouldn't play but doing it anyways cause you want to then being surprised when you don't play as well haha :p

Ahh gotcha. Well at the very least you are doing something feel more comfortable with.

Yup those streaks will happen. Hope you get a few more of those +5s ahead of you!! So long as they aren't against me lol
 
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