This is a question that I always seem to get asked. Whether it’s in Omaha or in Holdem, it still seems to be the same old pain in the arse however you look at it!

The latest person to ask me this heartfelt question is one of our own. a Paddy Power Poker enthusiast who goes by the screen name of ‘Aspiringpro’. He and many of the other poker crusaders who stop by ‘the Big C section’ at PPP.com to read what I have been up to and see what I have going on are often kind enough to leave me a question.

I always answer every question that I am asked on my blog, but as I said, this one seems to come up a lot. So, on behalf of ‘Aspiringpro’ and many of the other poker allies, I’ve decided that Short Stack Poker is a topic that we need to take a closer look at.

Indeed, it might be time for Big C to go on record and give you my take; my two cents on it… or forever hold my tongue.

Ya right – I can’t even keep my mouth shut when I’m under water – let alone when I eat!    That’s right; I am opinionated, especially when it comes to poker.  So here we go!

For a start; why is being short stacked such a pain in the arse you ask?  Hmm?  Well, it’s obvious that you would much rather be the one with the heap of chips in front of you, than the bloke who has only a handful. At least by having a bunch of chips you have the luxury of being able to stare down at those helpless short stacks, in some way feeling sorry for them even though at the same time you’re trying to knock them out!

Me? I hate being a short stack in a tournament! Granted it can keep you out of trouble for awhile as it prevents you from getting involved with marginal hands as you can’t afford it! But for the most part… being short staked is miserable – ‘it’s like having someone kick ya in the balls just before they ask you for some spare change’. It’s like having your best friend go on a farting spree during a road trip to Vegas, when it’s 120 degrees outside preventing you from rolling down the windows to dilute the stinky air! Yeah…it’s that bad.

I know what you’re thinking – ‘don’t become short stacked then!’ Yeah? Tell that to the bloke that made a move with his ten-seven off, only to have him back into a runner-runner situation and outdraw my top set, leaving me with only a handful of chips…meet Mr. Short Stack. You see, it’s not always your fault! Judge not, lest ye be judged I say!

Anyway, I suppose the first thing we need to look at is what actually constitutes being a short stack? Well, most believe that when you are down at ten times (or less) the amount of the big blind you are considered a short stack.

I know; it’s not a title that you hold dearly - yet you bear it!

One of the many problems with being short stacked is that you no longer have a lot of fold equity with your hand based on the amount of chips you have left.

For example; if you make a move while trying to represent a big hand - your opponent may not have to hold a big hand in order to look you up, even if the end result is either, that they’re wrong (and they lose but you can’t hurt them because you don’t have many chips) or they’re right (in which of course, you can’t hurt them).

Another problem with being the one in charge of the short stack is that it’s much harder for you to get away with your standard raise / steal from late position, as your opponents typically suspect you to be on the hustle and you run the risk of being reraised and pushed off the hand from someone who is left to act. But the problem now is that you put yourself in a spot where you are almost pot-committed, even though you most likely hold the inferior hand. Oh…and how we hate to go out with the worst of it!

I’ll leave you with this, a final note; whatever way you look at it my friends, it’s much harder for you to get the job done when you only have a short stack! Granted, it’s never a situation that we set out to get ourselves into, however it happens to the best of us. An important note my friends – if you do happen to find yourself in such a scenario and you feel that panic is close at hand as every picture card is starting to look like a big hand, then make sure at least that you are the one that moves in with the marginal hand first, as opposed to the one who is doing the calling with the marginal hand.

The reason; if both you and your opponent hold the same hand like an A 9 or K J  - whomever gets to act first with the hand might win due to moving in before the other. Are you with me? The point is that the hand is strong enough to go all-in with yet NOT strong enough to call an all-in with! You see, by acting first you at least apply some pressure on the people yet to act behind you, as they now have been put to the decision forcing them to call you if they want to play

Ciaran

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Big C. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.