Playing the Short Stack in MTTs
How to play when your stack is short; and how to figure out if your stack really are "short".
If I had to give a one hour lecture to teach someone Tournament No Limit Holdem who has never played, the section on short stack play would be abridged. It would include something along the lines of when you get down to 10 big blinds, you should go all in with pairs and other hole cards that contain an Ace. This isn’t horrible advice if you are trying go give a very gross generalization for someone in a hurry.
Thankfully, we don’t have to learn this wonderful game in an hour. We have what is left of each of our lifetimes to discover, try, learn, and experiment. With that said, lets not waste the minutes directly in front of our faces. Lets learn more about playing a good small stack tournament strategy.
To begin, I would ask the question of what a short stack is. Through experience we figure that it is a time that we can’t splash around much and we feel the need to “pick a spot” to go all in. Why do we get this feeling? The basic answer is we “feel” our fold equity diminishing.
Fold equity is the amount of the pot that we win when we bet based on the percentage of times our opponents fold. When shoving all in over some limps or min raises, we will get our opponents to fold quite often if our stack threatens the health of our opponent’s stack when our opponent has a non premium holding. The biggest variables (that we can calculate) for the equation of folds to shoves is the amount we are able to shove for and the relative stack sizes.
Here are a couple examples that may clear this idea up as I believe most players intuitively understand this concept.
The HJ (30 bbs) opens to 2 BB, the button (25bbs) calls, and Hero goes all in for 12 bbs. In this scenario, the hero has a lot of fold equity as either opponent losing 12 bbs out of her stack is a big deal.
The UTG (65 bbs) opens to 2 BB, the button (40 bbs) calls, and Hero shoves all in for 5 bbs. This situation is much different. I would estimate hero’s fold equity to be something approaching zero.
These examples are a bit on the extreme side but hopefully the reader understands what is meant by fold equity and how it is a very important concept when discussing short stack strategy. It isn’t just how short a player is but also how relative that is to the other players at the table.
I have been at a final table with 4 people left and nobody had more than 7 bbs. This is definitely a case of poker bingo at that point. However any player with more than 2 bbs had some fold equity because of laddering in payouts and the ICM pressures associated.
Lets say you find yourself short in a much more conventional way. You have been card dead for the first 3 hours of the tournament and lost the 3 hands you did play. You find yourself with 10 bbs when the average is 45. What can you do in this situation? You can look up push / fold charts for the specific number of bbs you have when you are on break. These charts will give you a +ev answer and that is pretty awesome. Want to know something more awesome? Often another move is higher EV.
Lets say you are at a final table with 9 bbs and it folds to you in the SB and you look down at the black aces. If you memorized that push / fold chart and are committed to it, shoving the aces into the big blind player’s range is +EV. However, limping to induce is higher EV. The push / fold chart will only tell you what is best of the two options of pushing or folding. This chart may be simpler for our brains to remember but it doesn’t even consider the most superior option!
I get it. Sometimes we want to avoid having to make more tough decision postflop with a small stack. Perhaps we feel like we could be outplayed postflop by an opponent that has more skill. However, the truth is the more we seek the best line, the more we play post flop, and the more we see the more skilled player perform, the better we will be next time. Being uncomfortable is one of the best things you can do to improve your long term game. Being uncomfortable is an opportunity to grow as player and as a bonus you will become more comfortable doing it.
A couple misconceptions of short stacked play come from the position of Big Blind.
Sometimes you find yourself in the big blind with deplorable starting cards after an early position open and a BTN call. It may be tempting to put in the extra 1.3 bbs holding the T6o especially when you calculate your pot odds (almost 5.5 : 1 on a call in a BB ante format). This thinking is a mistake. You are in much better shape by folding your weak hand that will be very difficult to play postflop from the worst position even if you do get a piece of the flop.
Having just written the first scenario, it seems logical that the same would be true when you are only facing one opponent. Alas, when you are facing only one opponent you ARE incentivized to call with around 10 bbs. you aren’t getting quite the pot odds as you were in the last scenario (this time around 3.7 : 1) but you enjoy the tradeoff of being heads up. In this scenario, if you get a pair, you can pretty much just go with it for the rest of your stack and if you whiff the flop you fold and move on. Simple.
Another specific situation heuristic you can use when you are very short stacked (2-3 bbs). In this scenario, if you find yourself UTG you can shove any 2 cards profitably. I would use the old satellite trick of closing your eyes when you “look at” your hole cards as to not sway you off your mission. It is important to feign looking at your cards to avoid being called even lighter by a person that knows you are shoving blind.
The reason this is a shove with any 2 is because you will have to pay the big blind ante next hand and therefore can’t “win” that ante from another stack as you can from UTG. This simple one big blind amount makes your entire range a shove.
To reiterate my poker mantra - pay attention - would be wise when discussing short stacks as well. Paying attention to who is paying attention will let you know who is aware of any laddering or ICM pressures and who isn’t. By paying attention, you can often pick up on a detail or two that could give you that extra edge to maximize your chance to get out of the short stack cellar. If the player to your left isn’t paying attention to your stack size and just playing the hands he likes, shoving from the button or small blind is like playing a game of chance that is often in your favor. So many opponents think along the lines of “I wouldn’t go all in without at least X hand, so I doubt this guy would either” without even bothering to consider the paltry number of big blinds you just pushed into the middle.
To say that there is a lot to consider when short stacked is to say it about any part of the game we love. We love it because its tough though. Lets embrace that it is hard and graduate from the “push and pray” mentality from previous decades and work to improve on the part of the game that we often find ourselves. After all, a few big blinds is worth a lot to a person watching from the rail.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed or got something from this, please consider cliking the like button below. If you have any questions, please email me at mikieculpepper@gmail.com
“ After all, a few big blinds is worth a lot to a person watching from the rail.” Thank you!! I need to constantly remind myself of this when nursing a short stack. A short stack may be small, but it is still in the game..
Great points Mike.
It does amaze me though how often a bad hand can win when short stacked and pushed all in. Of course, the opposite obviously happens too with big pocket pairs and getting beat.