Short Stack Poker Strategy
When playing in online poker rooms, the person with the fewest number of chips at the table is generally known as "the short stack." It's an unenviable position to be in and one that is far from ideal. However, if you are a regular poker player you will surely have found yourself in this kind of position for one of two different reasons.
The first one (and most likely) will be due to the fact that you've lost your chips throughout the progress of your current game. In other words, whether it be down to bad luck or just poor play, you've ended up giving most of your chips away to your opponents.
However, if you decide to enter a tournament that has already been running for a little while, it's more than likely you will sit down at the table in last place. Either way, you need to think about how you're going to add to your pile of chips quickly. A successful short stack strategy can be the difference between a strong player and an average one.
The main problem with finding yourself low on chips (especially in tournaments) is that your room for maneuver is greatly reduced. In Texas Hold'em, the vast majority of chips are bet on the turn and the river (as opposed to flop and pre-flop). Therefore a player who finds themselves in the position of the short stack is unlikely to find that they can afford to play much past the flop round.
With this in mind, when you find yourself with few chips you should make sure that you play big on strong hands that have a good chance of coming out on top rather than taking a risk on marginal hands such as small pocket pairs or suited connectors. These sort of speculative hands are best played with a deep stack of chips mainly because you could easily find yourself being re-raised and also because the chances of you hitting your straight/flush aren't particularly high. With a big pile of chips, you can afford to lose a small percentage because the potential reward is so high. That luxury is taken away when your chips are running thin on the ground. Taking a punt on making an improbable hand is likely just to decrease your stack of chips yet further.
Instead, try to play big suited hands (cards that are more likely to hit top pair when the flop comes down).
The players around you can also have a big impact on the way that your strategy needs to be implemented. If you find yourself in a position whereby the players seem to be playing in a very loose manner, then try to stay patient and wait for a strong solid hand before making your move. If, on the other hand the players behind you tend to be quite tight, then you can relax your starting requirements slightly and throw your chips into the middle of the table with slightly weaker hands. Don't wait too long and try to be the first to get your chips into the pot.
Short stack strategies should generally come into play when you find your chip stack is worth less than 40 big blinds. They need to be played with a clear head and a brave heart, but are ultimately very rewarding when they come off.
