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Poker Tip
Of Week: Playing A Small Stack
By Chris Goudey
Posted: 5:30 am PDT 2006-09-04 |
Courtesy Of Internet Casino and Poker Room at WagerWeb.com |
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In my last poker tip article I
explained how you should play a big stack in a no-limit hold 'em tournament. The
primary example of this was how Jamie Gold kept his chip lead for the last few days of
this year's World Series of Poker by using it as a bludgeoning tool. He simply forced
his opponents into folding by raising and re-raising time and again.
While playing a big stack is great and makes you feel like a bully, most people are going
to be playing a small stack more often than a big one. That's why knowing how to play
one is crucial to staying alive and hopefully acquiring a big stack later in the
tourney. There is a famous quote that applies to this situation: "a chip
and a chair," and believe me, having at least one chip and still being in the tourney
means you have a shot to win. Without sounding like an egomaniac, I can't tell you
how many times I've been the short stack at the table and ended up winning the tournament.
To me, if you are playing at a full table in a tourney, one has a short stack when their
total chip count is no more than 10x the current big blind. If the blinds are 100/200
and you have less than 2,000, you are a shorty. The key to managing a short stack is
patience. There are so many people whom I see going all-in with horrible hands simply
because the blinds are coming around to them. The thing is, you are very likely to be
called because people realize you are short and desperate and probably don't have much.
This is why patience is so important. If you do wait for a good hand, you are that
much more likely to be called by someone who thinks you've got nothing. Your chances
of doubling up and getting out of that short stack status increase exponentially. Of
course, it's very hard to sit there and wait and fold marginal hand after marginal hand,
but in the long run it's a better move in my opinion.
This strategy applies only when you are playing at a full table, however. If you are
at a final table or in a shorthanded game, you need to open up the cards you'll go all-in
with. It is less likely that someone has a better hand than you, so you can play more
hands. At the point where you have less than 5-6 big blinds, you need to go all-in with
whatever hand you play.
Playing it coy just doesn't give you the value you need. Go all-in and hope to get
the blinds to fold. I still wouldn't go all-in with anything less than a pocket pair
or Q-10, but there is a range of hands that I would play at a shorthanded table that I
wouldn't play at a full table. Anything in that K-J, K-10, A-anything range would be
an all-in at that point.
At a full table and with less than 10x the big blind but more than 5x, I would play as I
normally would, only playing premium hands and not calling with marginal hands, hoping to
see flops. As you would at a shorthanded table, I'd go all-in with any hand I decided
to play once I got below the 5x the big blind number. I'd still only play premium
hands at a full table, but would have to go all-in under 5x.
The other primary thing you have to look at as a short stack is your position at the
table. If you are on the button, to the left of the button or in the small blind that
definitely opens up the range of hands you can go all-in with as well. If it is
folded all the way around to you, and you are in one of those three positions, you could
go all-in with almost any two cards and be getting the correct value to do it. You'd
need to pay attention to the players on your left to see if they play tight or loose to
determine if you think they'd fold to your raise or call with almost anything.
Playing the short stack takes a lot of patience, attention to your position and what you
think will happen if you go all-in. All it usually takes for you to get back into the
mix is being doubled up 2-3 times, so pick your spots, be aggressive and when you do
strike, and hope the poker gods treat you well!
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