Shortstack Strategy
Playing a short stack in No Limit Texas Holdem refers to those times you play 20 times the big blind or less when you're opponents are playing much deeper stacks of 100 or more times the big blind. When played correctly a short stack has mathematical advantages at a table of bigger stacks and can exploit certain profitable situations. When you have 10 (or less) times the big blind in your stack the mathematically correct strategy becomes very simple, you either push all-in or fold in most circumstances.
This article will look at short stack strategy in relation to no limit Texas Holdem cash games. We will first look at why short stacks have an advantage and then look at how you should play different hands to exploit this. Next we will cover differences between short stacked play with 10 big blinds and with 20 times the big blind.
The reason a short-stack has an advantage when other players are full-stacked is due to the kind of hands it is ‘correct' for those deep stacked players to play. The fact that the pot will be small on early betting rounds means that deep stacked players enter the pot with a wide selection of hands, hoping to get rewarded with a big pot when they make a strong hand.
If everyone at the table had a small stack relative to the blinds it would not be correct to play many of these hands. For example suited connectors such as 9-10 suited would not be raised before the flop with 15 big blinds - as the potential reward for making a monster hand on the flop would not pay for the times when you miss and have to fold. However with 100 or more big blinds the potential reward is big – making these hands playable.
Short stacked strategy exploits the fact that the deeper stacks will continue to play their wide range of hands. The basis of this strategy is to wait patiently for a strong hand, and then raise or re-raise aggressively. This denies the big stacks the ‘implied odds' that they need to play speculative holdings – often resulting in them folding. Those times when they do choose to play you have entered the pot with solid values and will win a good proportion of the time.
The second benefit of short-stacked play is that once all your chips are in the middle the big stacks may continue to bet. This can cause a hand that would have beaten you by the river to fold. For example, you have 10-10 and re-raise 2 big stacks all in. The flop comes 3-4-9 and the first big stack bets out holding a pair of eights. This causes the 2 nd big stack, who holds A-K to fold. Now when an ace comes on the turn or river you will win a big pot that you would have lost had the big stacks not continued to bet.
With 10 big blinds your decision making is easy. Any raise you make will commit you to the pot due to high pot odds to call any re-raise. The answer is to wait for an opportunity to re-raise an opponent all in with a high pair such as A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10 or high cards like A-K / A-Q. If nobody has already entered the pot (or have limped) then you can add pairs 7-7 and above and high cards such as A-J, A-10 and K-Q to the mix.
When you hold 20 big blinds you strategy changes a little. Now you can afford to raise before the flop and still fold if the action ahead of you gets too heavy. Again you should look to raise strongly with high pairs and A-K or A-Q suited. If someone ahead of you has entered the pot then re-raise also with these hands. The best way to win a pot with a small stack is to threaten opponents with an all-in raise on the flop. This will cut down their odds against you for playing speculative hands.
To summarize, short stacked strategy mathematically exploits the fact that your deeper stacked opponents will (correctly) enter pots with a wide range of hands. By waiting for strong hand and raising strongly you give yourself 3 ways to win the pot. Either your opponents fold, 2 or more opponents continue betting giving you the winning hand, or your strong hand beats them at showdown. If you are a tournament player you might want to read our article about tournament short stack strategy aswell. |
