Just North of Wrigley Field

posted by James - 4:38 PM

Somebody asked me about short stack play in tournaments, here was my advice. You should send me your thoughts as well as any other topics you'd like to discuss.

When I'm in a tournament where I'm short stacked... and I've been in tournaments where I'm one of the leaders but everyone is short basically, such as a turbo... I try to pick off limpers... especially limpers who have medium stacks and can afford to fold. A guy limps from early position or middle position and i'm in late position, sometimes I don't even want to see my cards. I just want to shove... not get cute, not care what I have. Just shove and pick up not only the blinds, but the antes and that limp... don't understimate how much value there is in those pots. Any player with a premium hand in that situation isn't limping with a medium stack, they want to get as much value as possible and limping won't do it.

Also, if they make a sizeable raise and they have a stack where they still could fold... and you have a big hand 1010+-AQ+... You also want to shove there. Lock out any action after you and put yourself at a good position to pick up that pot with as little confrontation as possible or either double up or eliminate a competitor.