Bwammo discusses SNG Short Stack Survival

In this next video from DragTheBar Bwammo (Cody Kaiser) discusses how to survive with a short stack. He emphasizes the importance of never giving up and reviews when to be patient and when to be aggressive. There are 7 videos - make sure you view all 7 parts.

Bwammo is a SNG coach at DTB and is a successful mid-stakes sng player.

You can see more of his videos at DTB - click on the banner above to take advantage of the 14 day trial that is offered exclusively to Cardschat members!

Enjoy this video - I loved it! Cody is an active member here and will be in responding to any questions you might have.


Part 1 of the Series:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 1

Part 2:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 2

Part 3:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 3

Part 4:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 4

Part 5:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 5

Part 6:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 6

Part 7:

YouTube - SNG Short Stack Survival Part 7

Awesome video. As a pretty TAG player, I often find myself in short stack/shorter stack situations in MTTs. Also, I usually play the short stack super-aggressively and took the losses as being 'variance'/bad luck if I ran into a better hand, but you made a lot of key points in the video that I haven't thought of and over looked. I can't say that this'll drastically change how I play, but it's something I'll definitely keep in mind in key short-stack situations and I'll definitely try to imply it as well.

Would you say the same approach could be used in STTs? I actually tried it in a game and it felt no different than how I usually play. I had more knowledge as to WHY I was shoving/folding in situations but that's about it.

The concepts certainly are similar, but some of the application varies because of the nature of the STT. In general, we're a bit less willing to invite risk into our lives in the STTs because our goals are to make the money, rather than to win 1st place.

Bwammo said:

The concepts certainly are similar, but some of the application varies because of the nature of the STT. In general, we're a bit less willing to invite risk into our lives in the STTs because our goals are to make the money, rather than to win 1st place.

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This is interesting. I may have been approaching SNGs completely wrong by taking too many risk I would normally take in an MTT.

Thanks.

Awesome videos, I really think that I figured a few mistakes that I was making!

Gonna watch all these videos once more just to make sure I soaked it all in.

Nice stuff. I like the discussion of ranges with less than powerhouse hands given the position and stack sizes, something that I don't pay enough attention to.

NineLions said:

Nice stuff. I like the discussion of ranges with less than powerhouse hands given the position and stack sizes, something that I don't pay enough attention to.

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Honestly stack size and position are infinitely more important in tournament poker than your actual hand. It would certainly be a good practice to try and look at those two factors before thinking about your cards.

Thanks Bwammo - very informative and teaching me more about the power of the AI shive which you use to great effect. One comment that struck me was that you saw 8 5 offsuit as a good shove as they are semi connected - this struck me as being a bit wide for connectedness?

Any 2 cards that can create a straight are more valuable all in than 2 cards that cannot make a straight. Since 85o has multiple possible straights it's better than say...J7o at making straights. When going all in we just want as many ways to win, when we're called, as possible...so every little ounce of value counts

Wow. Great video. Everything (well mostly) made perfect sense and your reasoning seemed sound. I wish I could play with your voice-over playing in my head. It'd keep me out of a lot of trouble.

I realize I need to always know how big my stack is compared to the bb...

Thanks again for posting these.

You're very welcome. And yeah having a little person talking to you while you play is an amazing idea...that's why i try to talk to myself when I play Really though, having an inner voice/monologue is a great idea...if you talk every move out in your mind, you're more likely to make a move you agree with. There are so many times that EVERY player makes moves that they just simply don't agree with; but if you ask yourself if the move makes sense...it's a lot harder to make that mistake

Bwammo said:

You're very welcome. And yeah having a little person talking to you while you play is an amazing idea...that's why i try to talk to myself when I play Really though, having an inner voice/monologue is a great idea...if you talk every move out in your mind, you're more likely to make a move you agree with. There are so many times that EVERY player makes moves that they just simply don't agree with; but if you ask yourself if the move makes sense...it's a lot harder to make that mistake

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Or, if you are out in public, put your cellphone earpiece in and everyone will think you're on the phone......

What level is he playing at?

dj11 said:

Or, if you are out in public, put your cellphone earpiece in and everyone will think you're on the phone......

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LOL good idea!

And, this was a $12+1 90-man KO on Full Tilt.

I had a question about your call with Kx, I'm not entirely sure why calling his shove is a good decision here even with something as high as K9. If he hadn't been raising and had in fact been limping most of the time wouldn't a shove like that raise some flags? He's probably not going to be shoving anything less than Ax or a K that dominates you. In either of those cases you would be behind. Why not wait for a better situation given your chip lead over him?

Usually people (even the tight players) are willing to shove with any two broadway cards there, all pairs, most all kings, probably Q8 and above, along with some of the decent higher suited connectors, like J9s and T9s.

Against that sort of range, K9 would be a mild favorite, and given that the blinds were spiraling out of control making it very difficult to win much more than 55-60% of the time I'm HU with these stacks, it's nice to have a hand where I can assume I'm about a 55-60% favorite against his range.

The chip lead here actually allows me to make a wider call than usual, because I would still have more than enough chips to continue and I'm playing against a "tighter" player. This means when I need to steal, I probably can.

Bwammo, my play is just about the same.
I did use a HUD, found out it mess's with how i play, so i stopped using it.
Thanks for the video, here i thought i was playing to tight.

Great insight thanks Bwammo

I now understand in MTTs why SCs ,small pairs and straightening cards take out the big pairs so frequently.

I shall be using hands which were casually discarded far more frequently, in position when short stacked in MTTs, in the future.

I know this is an old thread but I'm new so I just saw it. Great videos.. Keep up the good work.

Such a genius. The videos were great can't wait until I [if ever] have that ability. Good job, thanks a lot.

Oh and I have a quick question if you're still checking this thread. Say i'm playing in a MTT and have about 8BB left, i need to start shoving soonish, is it better to shove rag aces A3,A4 etc or shoving suited connectors like 67s etc. (I know a lot of stuff is assumed in posting this, but I just mean is there a rule in general)?

Firstly, thanks to all who have watched/commented

jbbb said:

Such a genius. The videos were great can't wait until I [if ever] have that ability. Good job, thanks a lot.

Oh and I have a quick question if you're still checking this thread. Say i'm playing in a MTT and have about 8BB left, i need to start shoving soonish, is it better to shove rag aces A3,A4 etc or shoving suited connectors like 67s etc. (I know a lot of stuff is assumed in posting this, but I just mean is there a rule in general)?

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Honestly it depends upon the calling range of your opponents, but typically shoving suited connectors like 67s+ is a better play than A-rag hands because your opponents are often calling shoves with Ax hands/pocket pairs. 67s can coinflip against 22-55 while A3 can only coinflip against 22...67s is 47%ish to win against A2-A5, and is 42% to win against almost any two overcards. And...most importantly...67s is almost never dominated in the sense that our opponents have one of our cards but with a higher kicker. A6/A7 are the only possible combinations, whereas with A-rag, there are maaaaaaany combinations of hands that have us truly dominated.

If your opponents are ONLY calling shoves with pocket pairs 77+...then shoving A-rag hands is the superior play. Unfortunately, that's basically never the case

Those videos have been so helpful for me. It may sound hard to believe but I've been playing poker for a couple of years now and this is the first time I'd ever heard of adjusted big blinds! The videos have made me realise just how short stacked I was allowing myself to get and it's also helped me to widen my shoving range - just wish I'd come across these videos sooner so I could implement these ideas! Thanks a lot bwammo!

Glad my teachings could impact you in such a positive manner!

pricecube said:

Those videos have been so helpful for me. It may sound hard to believe but I've been playing poker for a couple of years now and this is the first time I'd ever heard of adjusted big blinds!

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For further discussion about ABBs, check this out: https://www.cardschat.com/forum/learning-poker-57/adjusted-big-blind-194239/

As you read the beginning of the thread, you'll realize you weren't alone. The thread clears up a lot of confusion and misconceptions.