Home game with small starting stacks - strategy

I've been playing in a home game of no limit hold 'em tournament poker for a couple of years now. Everyone starts with 50 chips. The starting blinds are 1-2 and go up every 15 minutes.

This strikes me as kind of ridiculous, but it's the way this guy has run his game for quite a while and lots of friends attend, so I keep going.

My question is this: what's the strategy? Is it the same as general advice for playing a small stack, or does it change because everyone else has a small stack too? How would you play it?

I'd have to sit out a few hands and see how the rest of them are playing it. But from what you are saying shove or fold starts coming into play on the second level - RIDICULOUS - but no sense in arguing.
#1 - Face the fact that you are going to have to get lucky to money this thing and if you don't do well it is not a reflection of poker skill (neither would winning it)
#2 - How many particpants at a table. Your starting hand requirements are dependent on this.
#3 - Figure out who the lions and the lambs are. If you can push someone around then do so. It's gong to turn into one big game of "Chicken" anyway.
#3 - I'm guessing there will be a whole lot of slow playing hands and trapping attempts. Be on guard.
#4 - Find another game

Play very TAG. after the first blind level it's basically all-in or fold preflop.

assuming 9-handed table, play a range of something like TT-AA, AQs, AK UTG, gradually loosening to like top 15% on the BTN and shove ATC if it folds to you in the small blind.

People will tend to play very badly in this, sometimes limping, completing in the SB or calling raises for like 1/3rd their stack preflop and then check/fold when they miss. You should have a huge edge.

Awww yes - the limping must be of the scale. Everyone will want a shot at getting lucky cheap. When you get ahand to play - Pound those limpers - make em play.

baudib1 said:

Play very TAG. after the first blind level it's basically all-in or fold preflop.

assuming 9-handed table, play a range of something like TT-AA, AQs, AK UTG, gradually loosening to like top 15% on the BTN and shove ATC if it folds to you in the small blind.

People will tend to play very badly in this, sometimes limping, completing in the SB or calling raises for like 1/3rd their stack preflop and then check/fold when they miss. You should have a huge edge.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to tweak my playing style a bit for tonight and see how it goes. I think you're both right on the money.

robonski said:

I've been playing in a home game of no limit hold 'em tournament poker for a couple of years now. Everyone starts with 50 chips. The starting blinds are 1-2 and go up every 15 minutes.

This strikes me as kind of ridiculous, but it's the way this guy has run his game for quite a while and lots of friends attend, so I keep going.

My question is this: what's the strategy? Is it the same as general advice for playing a small stack, or does it change because everyone else has a small stack too? How would you play it?

Click to expand...

I play the same exact thing at my home games except we give out only 40 chips. It depends how much the buy in is to determine the strategy. ours is only a 5 dollar buyin and i can confidently say im the best player there. the aggresive line will take it in the long run easily. the blinds represent such high value and a small bet on flops or min raises go far so when you raise more then the min it usually folds quite quickly.
Hope that helps!!
TTYL

good luck in the game, sounds like a horrible set up, 25bb starting stacks and 15 min blinds in a live game. would rather play a tournament game of snap

weird format

i love home games, usually easy pickins ... not sure the level of play, but i usually let the dust settle ... sometimes early on you can get lucky on the cheap with less than premium ... there's usually people who you want to play pots with and some you'd rather not mix it up with early on

every home game is turbo-riffic unless you have a hard core group ... very few hands between blinds, so fold/all-in comes about quick ... plus you don't those knocked out to be waiting forever for the next game

have fun

Short stacks and Turbos are never very stimulating for me.
But some people appear to like them and play them even online.