Curious what are peoples thoughts on Short Stacking cash games and or playing Short Stack tables? I personally am not a big fan of either, but do believe as far as the short stack table goes its good to play for the practice of playing short stacked, but i do not like to buy into a game thats full buy in short. Thoughts or advice on playing short stack poker?

imo you leave way to much on the table. I tried short stacking at my local casino playing 1/2 NL. buy in or 30 bigs. Cash out 500, cash out 500, loss 60, loss 60, cash out 120. if had bought in full stack .. would have been way more.

To play short stack strategy cash, imo best is to start by reading a book only written about this specific strat.
I would guess that micros you gain ev, because practically no-one knows how to play against it, and also you would be auto categorizes first to fish category (in 100bb tables)
It's double work though to learn both full and short strats and even learning one is hard. Also I'm not convinced at all that tourney and cash shorter stacks play is similar.

I hate playing it and I hate playing against it. When people come to a table with a short stack I'm usually the first one to move to another table.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. If that's how you prefer to play then good for you. Me, I like being able to get a lot of chips when I'm holding the nuts and get out cheap when I don't.

The essence of short stack play is that you play a very conservative style and essentially only play before the flop or on the flop. Loose players gain more of an advantage on the turn or river, when they can capitalize on their wacky draws and because their ranges are less defined, so the short stack defeats this advantage by being all in at this time. You have a lot of profitable opportunities to squeeze dead money without risking a ton. For example a guy raises, who has a strongish range but wide enough, and you get five loose callers. You have an okay hand like 99. You stand to be in okay shape against the initial raiser some of the time and there is lots of dead money. SO let's say the raise is to $15. If you can jam here for $80 in total this is a great spot because there is $90 already in the pot and you stand to be competitive, say 50/50, against the initial raiser. So you stack off that is about $45 profit. But if you have say $400 stack and you raise to $90 and you get re-raised to $400 now you are probably in bad shape and have to fold. Of course it works just as well with even stronger hands like AK, because now you are actually well ahead of the preflop raiser and are essentially just collecting the $90 in the pot, or getting it in as a 2:1 favourite.

Obviously knowing how to play a short stack intelligently is the key. There is no question that playing deep stacked in soft games can be even more profitable as if your opponents are going to make big turn or river mistakes then you want to be able to capitalize on them. Usually I do a mix of short stacking and deep stacking. I like to short stack when I first sit down at a table and am figuring everyone out. Initially, my opponents and I are on a closer to even footing. As the game progresses, I watch them carefully and begin winning the information war. After an hour or two, when I have a good grasp of game flow mechanics and a deeper understanding of how my opponents play, I will be much better positioned to ascertain the most profitable stack size. Another important consideration is that you cannot take money off the table but you can always add on (up to the max) if you determine it would be more profitable to be deeper.

Originally Posted by PokerHobbyFun

Curious what are peoples thoughts on Short Stacking cash games and or playing Short Stack tables? I personally am not a big fan of either, but do believe as far as the short stack table goes its good to play for the practice of playing short stacked, but i do not like to buy into a game thats full buy in short. Thoughts or advice on playing short stack poker?

Volume, I think the same as you, I do not understand these people

I think it's a bad idea. You basically have to go all in or fold vs a raise. It's hard stacking up. I prefer the max but in with auto top. This enables me to bluff more and get mad return for value. Your winnings from AA and kk and good flops will skyrocket.

It can be good to learn some crucial things about shortstacking, but then you could just play tournaments where you get to experiment with all kind of stack sizes. For cash I would say keep it at 100bb or deeper.

Playing short stack really depends on the game and the players sitting. In a wild game a short stack is not a bad thing. The money has to go in with quality hands in the right situation. You are not speculating here, this is not a post flop game. You want to put the money in with rocks, when it has the biggest effect. AK AA KK QQ JJ AQ suited.

In a live game you are also developing a short stack image. Ie. You put the money in with bombs, and the same players get to know this.

I actually play real cash games in NV. When I buy in large I seem to Never win However when I buy in short stack like say 40 I seem to be able to cash 💰 💵 out 240 or 60 360.

To play with a short stack, you need to learn how to start Nash, push fold ranges.

There are more than minuses in the game with a short stack in a cash game. The only advantage of a short stack is that you will not make expensive mistakes. Better learn to fold and play with 100bb.