Q&A #75: Is There an Optimal Short Stack Size?

There isn’t anything particular that a deep stacker could do against a short stack, other than adjusting to stacks, of course? It’s just that microlimits are full of these 20BB stacks and it makes harder to play against other deep stacks. If one’s playing deep stack just for the fun of it, or to learn the game.

I think that’s the whole point, well at least half a point, of an efficient short stack strategy: by calling with speculative hands, deep stacks always risk an early all-in from a short stack and possibly a forced fold if calling the 20BB reraise would make for insufficient implied odds against the original raiser. Thus, having short stacks on your immediate right is desirable, because they can just go all-in preflop after an early position raise and you calling with pair of deuces hoping to catch a set and busting the early position raiser.

Having said all that, most of the microlimit short stacks do not quite understand the short stack strategy. Though, that’s partly because many of them are just complete newbies who buy-in short, because they don’t want to lose more.

I am playing a 20BB shortstack strategy at NL50 and NL100 for some time.
I can say it works for me, mostly because the bigstacks don’t realize that i am only playing with the best hands (Vpip 11%), and they call to much.

@ Jarno
I absolutely think calling with a small pair after Raise and all-in (20BB) Raise from a shortstack is a waste of money.
You have 8 to one odds against hitting trips on the flop.
But when you catch them, you only earn around 100 BB from the Bigstack plus 20BB from the SS.
And who says that the Bigstack would pay you off, everytime u hit trips?

So u loose 8 times 20 BB and win one time 120 BB. That’s a minus game.

Thanks Ed; I was out of town for a few days so I just could read the article today. Especially “So the 20BB size is in no way “optimal,” it’s just a size where I could put together something simple that worked well enough.” was a good think to state, which made things clearer for me.

What do you think, is ‘your’ 20 BB strategy still (albeit marginally) profitable in todays NL50 and NL100 games?

@Jarno : If I may ask: over how many hands is your sample size? What is your BB/100? What site is it on?

but the first thing you do when you join a game is post a big blind and when you lose you won’t get new cards unless you post a big blind again

wouldn’t this stop the 1bb buyin from being profitable?

but the first thing you do when you join a game is post a big blind and when you lose you won’t get new cards unless you post a big blind again

That’s not so. Starting from your natural BB, if you’re quick about it (and buy-in rules allow) you can get 1 BBL rebuy up on the table in time to post the SB next hand. If you miss your natural SB, you’ll have to post a dead small blind once the button passes.

If you post behind the button, you’ve paid your big blind for the round. In either case, both in online and B&M play, once your blinds have been posted you can see free hands until your natural BB comes up again.

And some B&M rooms (e.g. most in Tunica; also the Taj Mahal in AC IIRC) let you come into a game without posting anyway. So you get a certain number of free hands. However, I don’t know of any room that lets new players buy in for 1BBL, so this is entirely theoretical.

The minimum short stack size has to be determined by the player. With 1-2 NL you pay a minimum of $3 a circuit. So therefore your stack size should generate at least $3 a circuit to break even. Short stack play is dominated by “doubling” up. The amount you double-up should be greater than the cost of the # of circuits to get there, and you have to additionally compensate for bad beats.

Short stacking in my opinion is not going to work with 10BB, especially at a table of 10. With 10BB your fund will be eaten away quickly by the blinds and you will be forced to go all in with a marginal hand that will be dominated by whomever calls.

When you play short-stack you have to play tight and aggressive, but you have to wait long enough to get a good hand to be aggressive with. And the hand you are aggressive with has to make up for the moneys you have lost to blinds, and bad beats.

With short stack play you have to determine… do you like playing with implied odds and reverse implied odds? Or do you like playing with NO implied odds and NO reverse implied odds.

i play 1-2 nolimit on the strip and grind out a modest profit against tight passive and loose passive by playing tight aggressive. i tried your short stack pair high cards with proper pot odds and price,all in hands were 99,1010 jj, aq, and ak. Lost all 5 buy ins., should i change or consider it bad luck.