Art of stack size

[MonkeeMan]

Vermicious, excellent post on why not to buy in short.

Another thought: Which would you rather do, 2x your $20 or 1.25x your $100? Doubling a small number is still a relatively small number.

[LuvDemNutz]

[ QUOTE ]
I always buy-in for the maximum. If I'm gonna sit down at a table I believe I am better than most (if not all) of the players. Therefore, when I get in a hand I want to have as much money as possible because I am going to win. If the max buy-in or the players make me uneasy and I don't feel comfortable playing then I find a different table.

If you plan on winning the more you have the more you can win when you go all-in. Be confident in your game and you won't regret being shortstacked when you get all-in with the nuts against a fish.

JKratzer

[/ QUOTE ]

Ditto.

[Vermicious Knid]

Thanks. That was going to be #6, but I suddenly realized that I needed to get back to work.

[ginko]

Good responses. However it's hard to agree especially since I just doubled up like 3 times in 15 minutes! I'd like to give some good points about shortstackedness though:

1.) Your small stack doesn't give odds for people to call your raises. IE fewer sets/flush/straight etc.

2.) Table image is very good because people will make excuses to call you with a 2nd best hand because they will convince themselves it's not very much money or whatever(insert excuse here).

3.) Stealing preflop becomes easier, people generally fold but call with WORST hands.

4.) You can't win the ideal max true, however badbeats won't tilt you as bad and you risk so much less.

5.) Poker isn't about skill, it's about winning money. "I'd rather be lucky than good", is a popular quote. For whatever reason I make more shortstacked(although I might be running hot, and its an extremely small sample size).


Overall I'm enjoying experimenting with this and this discussion, thanks for the responses~~

[DoubleDown]

[ QUOTE ]
the 75-150bb stack size range is very diffucult to play, for me at least. i'd much rather be <50 or >200.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ed (or anyone else) -- do you know of any good posts/outside resources that discuss strategy for a table where you and most of the players on the table are stacked in between 50xBB and 200xBB ??

It seems as if many of the new 'baby-NL' games that are being spread now with blinds of 1/2 and usually a min buyin of 50 and max of 250 would fall into this category.

I guess topics that would be interesting would be things such as:
-playing low-mid PP before the flop (i.e. calling them in after a raise)
-playing low-mid PP after the flop when the board contains all lower cards
-pricing out draws when much of your stack will be involved on a flop bet (thus leaving a disproportionately small amt left in your stack for the turn/river)
-many more that I'm sure others can come up with

[edtost]

i'd respond, but i have an awful history of playing those games like i have 300bb that plays instead of 100 and failing miserably, so i'll let someone else give actual advice.

much everything you asked about, though, is going to be opponent dependant. and i'd guess that strategies from 100x max online games would work well (ub, stars, etc), but i don't play them, so i'm not sure.

[vanHelsing]

[ QUOTE ]
As for moves I think there is alot of semi bluffing opportunity with a shortstack wouldn't you agree? Sure you can semi-bluff with a big stack but it looks a little weird when someone push's +$100 for a $10 pot(and I've seen alot of people do this and I instantly know they are on a draw, who does this with a set?).

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree.
More threatening than the money you bet right now, is the money in your stack, which could go into the pot next round(s).

[elnino12]

I always buy in at the max, because I like to play creatively, and I need some folding equity to make my bluffs work. In other words, if I'm a shortstack and am already all-in before the river, I can't bluff on fifth street if a scare cards comes up and take down a sizable pot even with a worse hand.

Also, when you hit a set with a deeper stack, you can get paid off quite a bit more. A deeper stack also allows you to force the draws out of the hand.

[elnino12]

Just realized I completey paraphrased Vermicious' entire post before reading it. Nice post Verm [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]