Short Stack Poker Strategy

Author: Simon Dexter

There is obviously no shame in being short stacked. It can happen for a variety of reasons.

Simply getting poor cards is the main reason and seeing your stack dwindling through no fault of your own can be frustrating. Unlucky hands can also leave you with fewer chips than you want and once again no blame can be attached – just the poker gods doing their thing. Reckless early play can also leave you in a short stack situation.

Whatever the reason you need to face the truth that you are fighting for your poker life and it helps to have some strategy to combat this position.

As a general rule of thumb it is thought to be wise to have at least eight times the big blind in your stack. Fall below this level and trouble can start. Certain players like to prey on the short stacked and they can be quite ruthless.

When approaching becoming short stacked the most important thing is to keep a tight table image. You want the rest of the Texas Hold ‘Em table to think that you will only play when you have a very decent hand.

Not too many people will be prepared to match your all-in – especially if they are only marginally ahead of yourself. Going all-in and stealing these hands is essential for survival – even if you have nothing in your hand to put up a fight.

Your table position becomes less important and you can go all-in from anywhere. In a strange way, even under the gun is a useful position as it will make your opponents think your hand could be something special.

It is vital at this stage of the game to analyse your opponents. See who is playing loose and who is standing firm. If you can spot a loose player – who may have even forgotten you are still playing (having played so tightly) – it is time to target them slowly should you get a good hand.

Drawing out the maximum from a loose player when you are short stacked is necessary to help you bounce back from your lack of chips.

As has been said, a tight table image is needed and here is the time to study your playing partners. It is not a time to sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Your back is up against the wall and you need to come out firing – whether you have a gun or not.

Tags: short stack, Texas Hold ’Em, underdog, WSOP

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 10:41 am and is filed under Poker Strategy.