It has become increasingly common in online six max games to see players short stacking. These types of players can annoy big stacked players because many of them don’t want to gamble unless they have an edge. But there are many reasons behind why players buy in short. One thing however is fairly certain and this is that if a player buys in short in a low stakes game then it is unlikely that they are a skilled player who is skilled at playing a short stack.With the preponderance of weak and ill disciplined players populating low stakes no limit games then why would any strong player handicap themselves in this way? As you move on up through the levels then it is no longer safe to assume that a player is weak just because they are sitting there with far less than the maximum buy-in.
Only yesterday I was watching a $500-$1000 NLHE game on Full Tilt Poker that had around $1.6 million dollars on the table but the short stack only had around $50,000. That short stack was John Juanda and no one can call that particular multiple bracelet holder weak!
But in many cases in low-stakes then a player who is sitting on a short stack really cannot be considered a strong player. By short here I am not referring to someone who has a chronically short stack, just a player who has either bought in or is sitting behind a stack that is significantly less the maximum allowed.
In many cases, players who have such stacks are either very risk averse or simply don’t have either the skills to play a big stack or possess a proper sized bankroll. In nearly all cases, what they won’t be doing is splashing chips around at random. This makes their play far more straight forward than that of bigger stacks on the whole and their ranges are more easy to read.
When a player sits down in a NL200 game with $50 then I am certainly not expecting them to be the table bully. I am expecting a player to sit there and wait for good hands or a hand that they feel that they can push all in with. This is similar in concept to short stacking strategy in tournament poker, the only difference being that the blinds are not escalating.
But you can definitely attack the short stacks more simply because they will be playing a different strategy and possess a different mindset on average than a big stacked player.
But when attacking the blinds of a really short stacked player then I think that it is important to lower the amount of your opening raise. For instance let’s say that you are on the button with the Jc-10d and it has been folded to you in a $1-$2 online six max game. The big blind is only sitting with $30 in front of them. I have seen players here make standard or above standard sized raises to between $7 and $10 in total.
This in my opinion is simply giving the small stack a perfect counter play to come back over the top with an all-in move. You obviously didn’t want to play for 15BB before the flop so your only option is to fold having lost $7 or $10 or whichever the case may be.
But what about the option of making a smaller raise here to about $5.00? This size of raise will still be enough to make the small blind fold all their junk hands. But look at the situation now, if the big blind makes an all in re-raise then you can still fold only this time you will have lost less money.
But there is also another dynamic here that needs to be looked at as well and that is the potential reaction of the big blind when he sees the size of your opening raise. It now makes it less financially attractive to him to re-raise all in since the pot is smaller and he could easily do one of two things. He could call your raise as its only $3 more in an $8 pot. But strange as it may seem, they could also fold as well in the belief that the pot simply isn’t worth it.
But now I am also going to suggest that open limping on the button may also not be a bad play as well (can hear the howls of derision already). In situations where you think that a player could be itching to get their stack all in at the first available opportunity then you should at least give them some rope in which to hang themselves.
For instance, it is folded to you on the button and you open limp for $2 with a Jd-10h. The small blind folds and the big blind raps with the As-4c. The flop comes Ah-Jc-10d, in situations like this then it will be difficult for the big blind to not get stacked and if they are itching to pull the trigger then it will be a formality. Also, because you open limped then this will also put you into a good position to win many pots post flop with a bluff as your opponent cannot be certain that no flop has missed you. This is not a set in stone strategy because nothing ever is but just something to consider the next time you are attacking a small stack.
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