Short Stack Strategy – Part 1: The Basics
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I’ve decided to write a series of articles about an always controversial topic, short stack no limit play. It’s a topic that interests me because no limit strategy revolves fundamentally around stack sizes. Stack sizes change everything, from what hands are worth playing before the flop, to how you should play them after the flop, to how to read hands and bluff, to who ultimately ends up with the money. Understand how different stack sizes affect strategy better than your opponent does, and you have a big advantage.
Examining short stack play offers insights into how stack sizes change things. It’s insight that many no limit players who have played deep for years never get. Indeed, many of those players have serious misconceptions about how strategy changes when the stacks get short. (And some respond to their ignorance by attacking short stack players. They don’t want to play short stacked, and they don’t want to learn how to, so they’d prefer short stacks simply disappear.)
Playing short also lets you turn some bad games into good ones. If your opponents are all top flight loose-aggressive players, you may be a big underdog playing deep. But you may actually have an edge if you play short. Learning to play short stacked makes you a more flexible player, and it gives you deeper insight into the game. Finally, if you play no limit tournaments at all, short stacked strategy becomes absolutely essential, as most tournaments play short-stacked for a long period of time. In my opinion, this is essential stuff.
First, if you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend that you grab a copy of my book Getting Started in Hold ‘em and read the no limit section. I spend most of the section discussing the basics of stack sizes, and then I offer a strategy (aimed at beginners) that has them buying in short (for about 20 times the big blind) and that will have even a brand new player holding their own in most any game. This article series will assume you’ve read that section and know how the strategy works, so if you want to follow along, you should read that section.
This article will go over some of the theoretical basics of playing short stacks. Future articles will examine and expand the system presented in GSIH to offer further insight and take it from an oversimplified beginner strategy into a full-fledged strategy that will have you making the most of short stacked play.
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Tags: 1-2-no-limit, getting-started-in-hold-em, gsih, no-limit-holdem, poker, Short Stack Strategy, short-stack, stack-size, table-stakes, warren-buffett
Not sure exactly when.
Please don’t publish any more about short-stack play. I’ve got a good thing going.