Soft play when a short stack shoves?

A short stack shoves in the bubble or itm and two or more players are in the pot. Do you soft play and go check check all the way till showdown? Or at least until you connect with the board? Dont you think its dumb play to push you off with completely air that will seen in showdown when your small pair would bust the short stack and make the pay jump?

I hate when people bluff bet in this situation, with no side pot. Though I've been the beneficiary of this a few times playing live. There just seems to be some bad players that play live that just don't understand situations and just think they are good players if they bluff you off pot. I've won with A high as short stack cause one of those players bluffed other player out of hand with nothing.

The standard and usally correct play on a bubble in in a stt and is to just check it down to the river to get in the money. This is even more important if it is a satellite. If it is a regular turny I think you should bet if it is + chip ev.

In some cases it can be in your interest to keep the short stack alive even in a stt. This is sometimes the case if you have a situation where you are the big stack, and your oponents are two medium stacks, and one short stack on the bubble. In this scenario you can bully the the mid stacks, and give the short stack a walk. This is a icm nightmare for the mid stacks. If you do this correctly (and get away with it), you can end up with a huge stack vs three short stacks, making a win more likely.

My 2 cents

Spaceman said:

A short stack shoves in the bubble or itm and two or more players are in the pot. Do you soft play and go check check all the way till showdown? Or at least until you connect with the board? Dont you think its dumb play to push you off with completely air that will seen in showdown when your small pair would bust the short stack and make the pay jump?

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Yes I think a short stack shove with air is asking to be eliminated.
Or maybe he's not as loose as he lets on LOL.

By "check check" I presume this is post flop and you've decided to at least call with your "small pair" ...
What is your stack compared to the other player(s) in the pot?
What is your position on the other player?
Would your small pair take other player also if you don't "connect with the board"?

You will have to decide on turn and river if it is worth a check, call or even a raise to stay with that "small pair" against that other player. :2in1:
Will losing this pot and the side pot to the other player put you down and out before itm?
Good Luck.

I get bipolar when I approach cashing.

If I'm on the short side - I'm going to get very aggressive

Otherwise I'm just stepping out of any conflict.

Spaceman said:

A short stack shoves in the bubble or itm and two or more players are in the pot. Do you soft play and go check check all the way till showdown? Or at least until you connect with the board? Dont you think its dumb play to push you off with completely air that will seen in showdown when your small pair would bust the short stack and make the pay jump?

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For sure check check till river,if you have a good hand on river than bet for value for another player and kick sort stack from tournament on bubble....

not soo great at english...but...if 4 players in pot....always someone has something...if u bluff...u are going to pay be sure off that...and the short stack....100 % has something...hope i got it right

I believe this is known as implicit collusion. Everyone in the pot knows the best chance of eliminating the short stack (and increasing everyone's equity) is if we all go to showdown so we all check down. Obviously if you believe you have the best hand you can still try to win more chips. And it's implicit collusion because to discuss what you're doing would be against the rules.

I'm trying to survive the bubble and to maintain an efficient stack than to do bluff and be maimed. So check out.

madjek said:

I hate when people bluff bet in this situation, with no side pot. Though I've been the beneficiary of this a few times playing live. There just seems to be some bad players that play live that just don't understand situations and just think they are good players if they bluff you off pot. I've won with A high as short stack cause one of those players bluffed other player out of hand with nothing.

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Well if he has some kind of value hand he will try to bluff u ... or make some side pot for him... ofc .. even third pair will try this because if he looses to the low stack he will loose again it doesnt matter.. but if he can ur chips in with a beter hand or if iso heads up aganis the all in guy he has more chance to win the pot... its correct to try to remove u from the hand by my prediction .. it doesnt matter the guy who is all in .. he cant get him of the hand .. and if he triples or u win its the same for him... he needs to get more chance to win the hand and its on this way to remove u from the hand

If there is not a substantial side pot, it is generally more profitable to soft play and let all hands show down in order to maximize the probability of knocking out the allin player, unless you make a strong hand that you are confident will beat that player. There is no sense in bluffing into a dry sidepot when there is already a player allin that you will have to beat at showdown.

Different situations require different approaches. What kind of tournament? Satellite or regular?

Is the sidepot worth winning in any way? Then that increases your overall chances in the further progress of the tournament. Then increasing the chance of elimination for the short stack player should not play a role.

Spaceman said:

A short stack shoves in the bubble or itm and two or more players are in the pot. Do you soft play and go check check all the way till showdown? Or at least until you connect with the board? Dont you think its dumb play to push you off with completely air that will seen in showdown when your small pair would bust the short stack and make the pay jump?

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Hi. Yeah, in this situation close to, or in the money I would say check it down. There is no reason to bet and push the other players out of the pot. Let the other players work with you to knock the all in player out of the tournament. Take care, and have a good day