slicheri93
Legend
Bronze Level
think if you are really short its either all-in or fold cant defend every single blind you have everytime.
think under 12bbs or so you have to either fold or call
and not limp much since they might bet any flop regardless
think there are a lot of hands you still have to go with even if they arent premium
think under 12bbs or so you have to either fold or call
and not limp much since they might bet any flop regardless
think there are a lot of hands you still have to go with even if they arent premium
nuttea
Visionary
Bronze Level
My advice for short-stacking at the final table can be summed up in two words: Cheer up. Things can change very quickly in tournaments. The most common mistake short stacked players make is wanting to double up as quickly as possible. I often hear players justify their moves by saying they had no chips at all, even though they would have 20 big blinds left if they fold. The problem is that they are comparing their stack to the average, which is much larger at such times. They tend to get closer to him instead of acting competently and collected.
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killing_random
Rock Star
Silver Level
With <10bb the only "go" I have is push. And I want at least something suited and above X5 for that, which is not that common to have.
killing_random
Rock Star
Silver Level
"From late positions" you mean SB,BB included?
Collin Moshman
Poker Expert
Silver Level
You can defend in the big blind facing a small raise even when short-stacked.
For example, suppose the button min-raises and you're in the big blind with:
53s
76o
Q2s
I would defend by calling with each of those hands at an effective stack of at least 7bb.
For example, suppose the button min-raises and you're in the big blind with:
53s
76o
Q2s
I would defend by calling with each of those hands at an effective stack of at least 7bb.
killing_random
Rock Star
Silver Level
T
thomelde
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Depend
When I’m short stacked and on the blinds; I usually push all in with good cards if it’s been pre raised before your call. Or if you are delt bad cards either way. Just fold (which isn’t always a good option if you dont have much of a stack leftover) Some days your short stack odds are against you.
When I’m short stacked and on the blinds; I usually push all in with good cards if it’s been pre raised before your call. Or if you are delt bad cards either way. Just fold (which isn’t always a good option if you dont have much of a stack leftover) Some days your short stack odds are against you.
F
fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
Agree. And sometimes you can then run the good old stop and go. If you connect with the flop, you donk jam and hope for a positive outcome. If you dont connect, you dont invest another chip
Amanda A
Legend
Bronze Level
Weaponize your short stack! You really can think about it differently. I must admit I kind of like playing a short stack. Maybe cause I'm pretty tight and patient most of the time, when I get short I switch gears. I say to myself, well now it's time to gamble! Nothing to lose anymore so let's give it a shot and see if we can run it up.
There's something extremely liberating about this. It's a rush. And this kind of fearlessness tends to make other players afraid. Often after showing a willingness to risk my stack I start getting walks in the big blind even as short stack.
A good thing about a short stack in the blinds (out of position) is that you get to realize your equity more. If you have a bigger stack and you are in the blinds you are going to fold the better hand more often cause you are playing out of position. If you are short and shoving you get to realize your equity, so this is great. I love shoving a good hand from the blinds against a late open, or shoving in an unopened pot from the SB against a BB.
It really depends on the stage of the tourney, I'm really talking about later stages, but 10 bigs can still be a lot of chips (even 5 or 2.5 BB can have fold equity in the right spots. Sometimes people fold to tiny shoves, crazy but true. And while it's not necessarily correct in terms of pot odds, when ICM is a factor it starts to make more sense.)
Think about it from the other players point of view - a 20 BB stack doesn't want to go down to 10BB without a hand, or 30BB to 20BB. If it's late in a tourney and say you are approaching final table or at final table people want to preserve their stacks. ICM is a factor and players want those money jumps. As short stack you don't have the ICM pressure cause you've got no where to go but up!
There's something extremely liberating about this. It's a rush. And this kind of fearlessness tends to make other players afraid. Often after showing a willingness to risk my stack I start getting walks in the big blind even as short stack.
A good thing about a short stack in the blinds (out of position) is that you get to realize your equity more. If you have a bigger stack and you are in the blinds you are going to fold the better hand more often cause you are playing out of position. If you are short and shoving you get to realize your equity, so this is great. I love shoving a good hand from the blinds against a late open, or shoving in an unopened pot from the SB against a BB.
It really depends on the stage of the tourney, I'm really talking about later stages, but 10 bigs can still be a lot of chips (even 5 or 2.5 BB can have fold equity in the right spots. Sometimes people fold to tiny shoves, crazy but true. And while it's not necessarily correct in terms of pot odds, when ICM is a factor it starts to make more sense.)
Think about it from the other players point of view - a 20 BB stack doesn't want to go down to 10BB without a hand, or 30BB to 20BB. If it's late in a tourney and say you are approaching final table or at final table people want to preserve their stacks. ICM is a factor and players want those money jumps. As short stack you don't have the ICM pressure cause you've got no where to go but up!
F
fundiver199
Legend
Loyaler
This is absolutely true. While being a short stack is of course never the goal, or where we want to be, its actually a very easy situation to be in. Being a middling stack can sometimes be a complete bear, if we have some very loose players on our left, like the classic "big chip bully".
However when we get down to a shove stack, then players to our left cant really do anything more, ofter than have a hand good enough to call our jam and then also win at showdown. Sometimes we can even leverage big stacks against each other. If we jam from CO, then a big stack on BTN cant call us light, if there are other big stacks behind him, who might wake up with a hand.
So as you say, as a short stack we just need to be willing to risk our tournament life and not be scared to jam some speculative hands like a small pair, a suited ace or a suited connector especially from late position. If we have spend some time studying push-fold charts or even better worked with ICMizer, then its pretty limited, how many mistakes its possible to make as the short stack. And at the end of day, if we play without mistakes, thats really the best, we can do, and then the results will be, what they will be