I would buy in max if you want to get full value from you big hands.
I have seen to many short stackers double there 5.00 to 10.00 when they could have made 50 or more in that hand. Short stacking is not smart.
I disagree. Well, no. I agree. A set of Aces or a nut flush to 2nd best flush won't go as far, but you can minimize your losses on your draws with short stack hands.
E.G. - I have JdTd, board reads 8d9s3d. The action pre-flop was a raise for 3 BBs which both blinds, myself (the button, with a stack remaining of 17 BBs because I'm playing 20 BBs), and the cutoff (original raiser). There are 12 BBs in the pot.
The small blind checks, the big blind bets 7, the cutoff calls. That's 26 BBsin the pot, and you have a combo draw. You go all-in.
Either you get called or you don't. If you get called, you've only risked 20 BBs, you stand to gain the 26 BBs in the pot, plus 17 BBs if the SB calls (slow playing a set, for instance), plus 10 BBs if the BB calls (it's only 10 more BBs, top pair top kicker perhaps?), and the cut-off, 10 more BBs with his second best draw that its one of your outs, with say . . . Ts7s, so that you know a J won't give you the best hand.
If all 3 call, it's an 80 BB pot, 20 of which are yours, and you're a favorite to win the hand at this point. If the set calls, and the other two fold (perhaps to a protection reraise, which wouldn't make sense for the set unless they were raising for value, or put you on a made hand and the others on a draw, and didn't want to give proper
odds for the draw, of course), you're still playing for a 60 BB pot, at which you have plenty of outs.
Mathmatically, you want to focus more on your draws than your hands like sets of Aces. Not that I hate getting AAA when I'm short-stacked, I just prefer to draw, because without a chipstack I can't bet people off my hand when threatening cards start coming. (like 3 spades on a board, one of which is my set card).
Of course one advantage of short-stack poker is that I can go all in and worry about risking less.
But one advantage of big stack poker is when the board pairs on the turn I know I'm golden, and I want my AAAKK to get paid off by hands like KQ and people who flopped a flush.
