$2 NLHE Full Ring: PokerStars - $0.02 NL - Holdem - 9 players

Hi all, just faced this situation, eager to hear from you what you think of it..should I have gone all in instead of raising 3BBs in the first place? Wouldn't have changed a lot, would it..having villain with KK siting in the BB.


Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG: $1.14 (57 bb)
UTG+1: $2.44 (122 bb)
MP: $1.10 (55 bb)
Hero (MP+1): $0.25 (12.5 bb)
MP+2: $4.72 (236 bb)
CO: $0.89 (44.5 bb)
BTN: $2.00 (100 bb)
SB: $2.34 (117 bb)
BB: $1.64 (82 bb)

SB posts $0.01, BB posts $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, MP+2 raises to $0.21, 4 folds, Hero raises to $0.25 and is all-in, MP+2 calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.53, 2 players)

Turn: ($0.53, 2 players)

River: ($0.53, 2 players)

Results: $0.53 pot ($0.02 rake)
Final Board:

Hero shows : (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 18%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)

MP+2 shows : (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 82%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)

MP+2 wins $0.51

Open raising JJ's to 3 bigs is fine. With 12.5 bbs you're basically looking to get all the money in preflop so calling a shove kinda is the best case scenario. Playing a 12.5 bb stack is not so fine. If you're looking to improve your game I suggest you buy in for the full amount and auto reload.

This specific hand you played well since there really isn't much poker to be played when you're playing so short stacked. The mistake was playing short in the first place.

If you were to play 100 bbs deep, you are generally not in great shape with JJ if you get 3bet from middle position, but JJ is still a premium hand. 4 betting is a good play if they are 4 betting light (fold vs 5 bet most of the time unless you observed him getting way out of line before). Flat if they have a tighter 3 betting range. If you choose to flat, proceed with caution, especially on a flop with overcards. His 3 betting range is likely to contain ATs+ and some suited kings.

DoIHaveAFlush said:

Hi all, just faced this situation, eager to hear from you what you think of it..should I have gone all in instead of raising 3BBs in the first place? Wouldn't have changed a lot, would it..having villain with KK siting in the BB.


Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG: $1.14 (57 bb)
UTG+1: $2.44 (122 bb)
MP: $1.10 (55 bb)
Hero (MP+1): $0.25 (12.5 bb)
MP+2: $4.72 (236 bb)
CO: $0.89 (44.5 bb)
BTN: $2.00 (100 bb)
SB: $2.34 (117 bb)
BB: $1.64 (82 bb)

SB posts $0.01, BB posts $0.02

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.03) Hero has
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.06, MP+2 raises to $0.21, 4 folds, Hero raises to $0.25 and is all-in, MP+2 calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.53, 2 players)

Turn: ($0.53, 2 players)

River: ($0.53, 2 players)

Results: $0.53 pot ($0.02 rake)
Final Board:

Hero shows : (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 18%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)

MP+2 shows : (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 82%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)

MP+2 wins $0.51

Click to expand...

If you got yourself in a pitiable condition where you have only a few blinds left, for example you had only 12.5 blinds when the hand started, my sole advice is to be putting up a shove with 50% range or so, it is meaningless, there is no point in playing cash having so little chips to fight for.
If you are a beginner, try to study and improve your game, if you are not a beginner, stop tilting and begin to study bankroll Management and Tilt Control as well.

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Aballinamion said:

If you got yourself in a pitiable condition where you have only a few blinds left, for example you had only 12.5 blinds when the hand started, my sole advice is to be putting up a shove with 50% range or so, it is meaningless, there is no point in playing cash having so little chips to fight for.
If you are a beginner, try to study and improve your game, if you are not a beginner, stop tilting and begin to study Bankroll Management and Tilt Control as well.

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa

Click to expand...

Hi Carlos,

Thanks for the feedback, so your advise is to shove JJs in this spot? That is true, since im only starting to learn poker in more depth and theory, I found myself after 2 bad hands already in this difficult spot of having only 12.5BBs left..and i didn't want to reload on this table, so I thought I play whether I loose it all or climb up slowly. So I waited for a couple of hands until I got a nice one (JJ), but then I guess it theres nothing I can do if KK sits next to me in the same round. Or would you suggest doing differently?

Cheers

Hermus said:

Open raising JJ's to 3 bigs is fine. With 12.5 bbs you're basically looking to get all the money in preflop so calling a shove kinda is the best case scenario. Playing a 12.5 bb stack is not so fine. If you're looking to improve your game I suggest you buy in for the full amount and auto reload.

This specific hand you played well since there really isn't much poker to be played when you're playing so short stacked. The mistake was playing short in the first place.

If you were to play 100 bbs deep, you are generally not in great shape with JJ if you get 3bet from middle position, but JJ is still a premium hand. 4 betting is a good play if they are 4 betting light (fold vs 5 bet most of the time unless you observed him getting way out of line before). Flat if they have a tighter 3 betting range. If you choose to flat, proceed with caution, especially on a flop with overcards. His 3 betting range is likely to contain ATs+ and some suited kings.

Click to expand...

Hi Hermus, Thank you for the great piece of advice!

So you would suggest to auto reload in cash games? What are the benefits of auto-reloading, I would be interested in your oppinion? My train of thought was always to enter with min buyin (0.80$) and this way limit the amount that could be lost..

Cheers!

I dont even think there is much of a decision here as you have 12 BB with JJ, It is a shove all in pre flop. Your stack is too small to be raise and then looking to get it in, You just need to get in here. If your stack was in the 20s of BB then I think there is an argument for raising and then looking to jam but even that is dicey with JJ. This is a clear pre flop all in and just see how the cards fall after that.

Another piece of advice is when you get this low you should either leave the table or add on to your stack. Nothing wrong with realizing this table isnt for you or you feel like you are not playing well or just lost a big pot or whatever the case may be but playing cash with a small stack like this is rarely if ever a good idea.

With an effective stack of just 12BB this is actually more like a tournament hand, and if you ask Cardchats resident tournament specialists Collin Moshman and Katie Dozier, then the point, where you should move to push-fold poker, is 15BB with antes and 10BB without antes. Since there were no antes in this game, you were not automatically in push-fold mode, but open jamming for 12BB would certainly still be an option, if you preferred to play this way.

Moreover if you want to still use a strategy, where you enter the pot without committing your entire stack, then it needs to be a mini-raise. The reason is, that otherwise you lose to much of your stack, when you fold to a 3-bet. You are not folding JJ to a 3-bet of course, but the whole point is, that you should play all your hands the same way, so that the other players wont know, if you have JJ or 65s, and if you are going to call or fold to a 3-bet.

With all this being said short stacked play is not really, what you should be focused on, if you play cash games. Cash games are all about postflop play, and this require if not a full 100BB stack then at least the 40BB, which is typically the minimum buyin. So at least use auto top-up to keep your stack from falling below 40BB. The other option is to play tournaments, where especially low buyin Sit n Gos can be a cheap and fun way to practice playing with a short stack.

DoIHaveAFlush said:

Hi Hermus, Thank you for the great piece of advice!

So you would suggest to auto reload in cash games? What are the benefits of auto-reloading, I would be interested in your oppinion? My train of thought was always to enter with min buyin (0.80$) and this way limit the amount that could be lost..

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Happy to help!

My reasoning is to buy-in for the maximum (and auto rebuy) to set me up for winning the maximum amount.

The main benefit of buying in short is to reduce variance or extend the life of your bankroll if you're a losing player. Nothing wrong with sitting down with 40 bbs if you're still learning the fundamentals. In that case, try to at least rebuy to 40 bbs if your stack starts dipping below that amount.

Just keep in mind, as you get better and have an edge on the rest of the table you'll want to start buying in for the full amount. Strategy actually changes as your stack depth changes so keep in mind to adjust accordingly. For example, getting it all in preflop with JJ for 20 bbs is perfectly fine, but getting it all in preflop with JJ for 100 bbs is a bad play.

You have 12bbs... doesn't matter what you do, the money is going in.

DoIHaveAFlush said:

Hi Carlos,

Thanks for the feedback, so your advise is to shove JJs in this spot? That is true, since im only starting to learn poker in more depth and theory, I found myself after 2 bad hands already in this difficult spot of having only 12.5BBs left..and i didn't want to reload on this table, so I thought I play whether I loose it all or climb up slowly. So I waited for a couple of hands until I got a nice one (JJ), but then I guess it theres nothing I can do if KK sits next to me in the same round. Or would you suggest doing differently?

Cheers

Click to expand...

If you really want to play cash games seriously, you must go to the next level and improve your gaming skills.
I would recommend Polished Poker Vol I, available here in the forum>cash.

What I really recommend for you to do is to play with a solid Bankroll, which must have at least 20 buy-ins of 2 NLHE (Never start playing 5 NLHE instead of 2 NLHE. Kill 2 NLHE before moving to the next stake level).

After you build a solid Bankroll, now it is time to manage it. Play only one style, avoid Fast Fold/Zoom tables, and when you sit on the table, automatic fill up your chips and plays always with a 100 blinds/chips deep.

The Cash Games are best if we do play MSS (middle stack strategy), always playing with 100 blinds deep, thus we can always concur a pot of 200 blinds.
When you are playing with 20, 30, 70 blinds our expectations are not so good. We are not winning the most as possible when we are not 100 blinds deep.

Also would recommend for a starter to avoid playing pots of 250 blinds or more: this is a subject so complicated that it is best to avoid then get yourself complicated in situations that can bring and cause tons of tilt for nothing.
For nothing, once we double up in a cash table, we can simply go sitting out and get out without further ado.

Once we are quite confident in our skills and we want to go to the next level, we start playing pots of 250, 300 and 400 blinds at maximum.

Regards;

Carlos 'Aballinamion' Barbosa