Copyright 2006 Full
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July 24, 2006
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Poker Lessons)
Poker Lesson: Managing the Short
Stack
Author: Mark Vos
A couple of weeks back, I won the $2,000 No-Limit
Hold 'em event at the World Series of Poker. It's a great
honor to have the bracelet. The $800,000 that I got for first
place is, of course, awesome. For most of the tournament, I was
short stacked. But, I think I played my short stack well and,
for this tip, I thought I'd share some thoughts I have on short-stack
play.
The key to my short-stack survival was that I was
able to steal enough pots to stay alive. There was only one play
I could use; move in, and hope everyone folded. It worked out
for me, despite the fact I was card dead most of the day.
There were a couple of reasons my steals were effective.
First was that I was careful not to let my stack fall below seven
or eight big blinds. In No-Limit tournaments, it's very important
to do your stealing when you have at least eight to 10 big blinds.
If the average stack is between 20 and 25 big blinds, which is
common in the later stages of tournaments, and you move all-in
for eight or more big blinds, only very strong hands are going
to call you. Your opponents won't want to risk becoming a short
stack by losing a confrontation, so there's a tremendous amount
of fold equity.
If your stack drops to the point where you only
have five or six big blinds, you're far more likely to get called.
So you need to be very aware of the size of your stack and the
location of the button. If you're sitting on eight big blinds
and you're in middle position, you should look for a chance to
push in and steal before you move through the blinds.
While you're on the short stack, you also want to
have a tight image. You want everyone to think you're patiently
waiting for a strong hand. If you give off this impression, you
are going to get a lot of respect, which should increase the likelihood
that your opponents will fold when you move in.
When I'm on the short stack, I don't mind moving
in from early position, even when I'm under-the-gun. I did this
frequently in the WSOP tournament I won, even when I was holding
rags. It worked out well. I had a tight image, so an early position
move looked very strong. Unless someone picked up a hand like
pocket Queens or Kings, I was likely to pick up the all-important
blinds and antes.
When you're on a short stack, you need to stay alive
while you wait for decent cards. The key is to find situations
where your opponents are likely to fold. If you keep your stack
over eight big blinds, create a tight image, and move in from
a variety of positions, you have a good chance of stealing enough
pots to stay alive in the tournament. Hopefully, things will go
your way and you'll pick up some hands so that you can build your
stack up and take out the tournament!
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