Playing Short and Big Stack

Playing a short stack

Nobody wants to have a short stack, but a lot of players admit to quite liking having one because they are very easy to play. By short stack we usually mean less than 15 big blinds in a tournament. Short stacks are easy to play because you only really have one of two decisions, fold or shove all-in.

This is because doing anything else is disastrous. You can’t bet something like three times the blind because if you miss the flop or are re-raised all-in. You do not want to have to fold when such a big percentage of your stack is already in the middle of the table. Limping is even worse, because it’s only usually worth doing when you have a lot of chips and it isn’t costing you anything. By going all-in, not only do you put the maximum pressure on your opponents to fold, you also win the biggest possible pot when called (If you win).

Hand selection is a key skill when short stacked. You can no longer afford to play speculative hands like suited connectors because what you win the rare times you do make a hand is not worth the risk. You need to stick to hands that have a good chance of being the best hand without much improvement, so pairs, Broadway hands like KQ and strong aces.

You also want, wherever possible, to be the first player to raise, rather than calling. This is called ‘first in vigour’ and basically it means you have two ways to win. You can force a fold or you can have the best hand at showdown. Calling all-in however, means you must have the best hand at showdown. For that reason, believe it or not, if you had a choice it’s more favourable to go all in as the first person to act with something marginal like Queen-Ten than to call an all-in with a decent hand like ace-jack.

If you have a micro stack, which is a stack of five big blinds or less, then you are in even worse shape. This is because you have very little fold equity, you simply cannot expect anyone to fold because it costs them so little to do so. You should still look for strong hands to shove all-in with but also keep an eye out for a chance to gamble when there is a big pot brewing. If someone raises before you, consider loosening up your calling range a little because although the likelihood is that you will bust out, the times you don’t will result in winning a much bigger pot than just the blinds (because someone else has already entered additional money into the pot).

Playing a big stack

Few things compare to having a huge pile of chips in a multi table tournament. You have very little fear of busting out any time soon, yet everyone at your table will worry every time you enter the pot. You have such a presence that you can accumulate more chips with ease, or can relax and wait for some good spots without worry of blinding away.

As easy as life seems with a chip lead, many players can struggle with knowing when to push their advantage and when to sit tight in comfort. Often players will play too loose or too aggressive and ‘blow up’, they will actually bust their stack much quicker than had they had a medium stack.

The first thing to note is that a big stack has much more impact the deeper you get and the bigger the blinds are. Holding twice as many chips as your opponents doesn’t really have much of an advantage in the early, low blind, stages because everyone can play patiently and the pots are not big enough to justify stealing yet.

It’s much better to push your advantage later in the game, especially as key periods like the money bubble, big pay jumps and the final table are looming. You can afford to gamble more than most in certain spots and make others have to face having to call for their tournament life if they want to play a pot with you.

One of the biggest mistakes, which highlight’s one of the key skills here, is not correctly profiling your opponents. Some players will mindlessly re-raise everyone when they have a big stack and that’s where they come undone. One of the biggest tools in your belt is observation, pay close attention to the action around you to determine who are the tight players and who are the crazy players. Who you think is prepared to fold big hands to protect their tournament life and who seems happy to go all the way.

Thankfully with a big stack, you can afford to make a few mistakes. Your aim is to be the table captain, the busiest and most aggressive players at the table. But you should also be very aware of the players you are up against and, when needed, be prepared to take the foot off the gas a little and enjoy the security a monster lead ensures.

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