short stacked when deep in tourney

[marcumx]

i've only ever played four live tourneys at the nearest casino and only cashed once at a wsop circuit event. The problem i run into when playing both online and live is surviving when close to the money. I tend to grind a good stack until the blinds reach the 1000 range then i blind out when i have nothing good enough to play. should i take risks and shove small Ace x 's and hope to get lucky? when playing live i usually bust out around 10-13th which pays only 1-5. should i just try and double up early? i never call all ins unless i have strong pairs.

 

[Amanda A]

You have to start shoving or folding only when you are down to around 8-12 BB. You can't just lose all your fold equity and be blinded away. Go out with a bang if you must. Try to find the best combo of cards, position and everyone folding to you so you are first to act and move all in. Also try to pick a spot where the BB is not the big stack who might call with anything.

 

[SirYivx]

When I'm short and near the money bubble, my shoving range is generally very tight. However, if action folds to you in the CO, BTN, or SB then ranges can become wider depending on the stacks to your left. It's always awkward playing a 20-30 BB stack in the middling stages of the tourney, which sounds like something that's happening a lot to you if you're closing in on the bubble relatively short. Maybe try taking more 3-bet or squeeze spots with your stronger hands in the middling stages so you have more to work with later on. Sooner or later, unless your a big stack, your tournament life is likely to come down to a flip. Just gotta put yourself on the better side of that flip/build enough chips that when you lose those flips you can still survive to see another hand.

As far as shoving ranges go though, there's a lot of charts and info out there that can help. If people are playing too tight at your table, you can always open wider until players adjust.

 

[Seltz]

Short Stacks

Shove, Shove Shove! You gotta put pressure on the larger stacks limiting their ICM. Wait until you get a good enough hand to play and then rip it all in.

 

[kowrip]

Once you get down to about 15BB, you need to start looking for opportunities to go all-in. The first few times I played in tournaments, I was a bit scared to do so and ended up waiting too long. Once your stack gets under 10BB, your fold equity really plummets, especially if you have some of the bigger stacks at your table. Also, don't overlook re-stealing from the BB. You can start doing this once you get to 20BB or so. It can be extremely effective against loose LP raisers.

 

[Blakepc91]

You can never win a MTT if you play scared to bust. Generally at 15-25 BBs you want to look for spots you can 3bet all in. 15 BBs or less ur in shove or fold territory. Keep in mind your shoving range 10-15 BBs is going to be a lot wider than your shoving range on less than 10 BBs. Goodluck at the tables.

 

[edenman1]

i've only ever played four live tourneys at the nearest casino and only cashed once at a wsop circuit event. The problem i run into when playing both online and live is surviving when close to the money. I tend to grind a good stack until the blinds reach the 1000 range then i blind out when i have nothing good enough to play. should i take risks and shove small Ace x 's and hope to get lucky? when playing live i usually bust out around 10-13th which pays only 1-5. should i just try and double up early? i never call all ins unless i have strong pairs.

Thats tough.. I would as the big money players will play low hands to try and beat you out..

 

[gryphon3005]

You're talking about something everyone has trouble with....blinds going up, near the end of the middle stage, and the cards aren't coming. Fold equity is the key but don't just pay attention to your stack size in terms of number of BBs. See your stack as relative to the other stacks. When your shove will cost your opponent more than half his stack and leave him with a huge hill to climb to make the bubble your fold equity will be at its peak. So, when your position allows you to target the smaller stacks then your cards don't matter...pick your spot and shove. Picking up the blinds and antes a few times will extend your tournament life and give you a chance to actually get a hand.

 

[belizebum]

I feel like I am always in this spot, probably not, just feels like it. Any time I have shoved, I generally lose. Again probably just feels this way. Such a tricky spot. Wait for the best hands and best positions and go for it.

 

[Eric Salvador]

Sounds like you play tight. Once you get into the money you should be widening your range and playing more aggressive. You won’t run as deep as frequent but you will give yourself a larger stack when things go in your favor. You need to protect you position and be willing to put other players that are playing tight in tough spots. It’s impossible to explain this completely in a post not to mention I’m not skilled enough to get all the details explained but this is a broad version of what you should be doing

 

[foran]

play the best way, if the table is passive steals, if it is aggressive wait.

 

[Queenlimp]

I asked the same question about 6 months ago.
Flipping stacks are the reality of being short stacked toward the end of the tourney.
I like folding to action and opening in position with comfortable range. However with a strong raise. There are some free shove charts out there.


I'd say play more hands in position during mid rounds in hopes to avoid the situation.
So much of a tight game with discipline that comes down to a big gamble in the end seems to be somewhat counter productive (which I've done a lot of). FYI: people fold to 3 bets and position bluffs often; try a few and hope you get lucky; unless you are running strong, sooner or later you will be flipping anyway.

 

[63burner]

More early aggession

More early aggression might be needed in your game-plan. It's easy to trap yourself, per se; play it TAG to get to higher blinds, it makes sense, to a point. Maybe you need to switch to the aggressive gear a little earlier, when you still have enough chips/time to recover
Your comfort zone has worked before, to a point, go over your past performances, see if you can determine the inflection point, where you peaked/started a downward trend.

 

[63burner]

More early aggession

More early aggression might be needed in your game-plan. It's easy to trap yourself, per se; play it TAG to get to higher blinds, it makes sense, to a point. Maybe you need to switch to the aggressive gear a little earlier, when you still have enough chips/time to recover
Your comfort zone has worked before, go over your past performances, see if you can determine the inflection point, where you peaked/started a downward trend.

 

[Alex70793]

Playing with a short stack is normal, 80% of the poker game you will play with a short stack. A strong card does not often come, so you need to risk playing not strong hands to double and go deeper in the tournament.

 

[Jilty]

Are you playing tournaments most people >80% still in the tournament are shoving when there is a lot left before the money? You have to play those tournaments aggressively. Most of the time you will bust but you are much more likely to come first and cover the other buy-ins, either aim to be the guy that has 20-30bbs when everyone is shoving or be out early on a flip. No point being in that shit space with 5 left til the money, at least you get to go home early.

 

[Jilty]

Even though the blinds are the same amount of time you can consider them turbos due to it being live and not online, remember your buying into a turbo at the minimum.