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Tournament Short Stack: How To Survive

Players are inevitably going to be faced with a short stack at some point in just about every tournament they play. Learning how to cope when you
don't have a lot of chips is a necessary skill to master. Playing effectively with a handful of chips requires a series of adjustments to your strategy,
depending on how short your stack really is.

The first step is to identify when you are actually short stacked. This does not mean that you have the least chips of the players at your table.
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Short stack is defined by the number of big blinds your stack represents. For an online tourney that features 5,000 starting chips and an opening

BB of 20, each player has 250 BBs to start with. You can lose half your stack on the opening hand and still have 125 BBs. You would probably
have the smallest stack at your table, but you are definitely not short stacked.

For the purposes of this article, we'll consider three categories of short stacks, each of which will require adjustments to your normal play. The
three categories are: big stack envy (between 20-30 BBs), vertically challenged stack (between 10-20 BBs), and short stack complex (fewer than

10 BBs). Each of these phases requires a different kind of strategy to survive.

Also check out Big Stack MTT strategy guide for how to finish them off when you're doing well.

Quick
Navigation Vertically Challenged
Big Stack Envy Short Stack Complex Final Thoughts Short Stack Video
Stack

Big Stack Envy

When your chip stack dips into Big Stack Envy territory (20-30 BBs), it's time to make some subtle adjustments
to your game. The most important step is to reduce your opening range by eliminating speculative hands from
your arsenal. You can't afford to chase straights or flushes, because those generally take at least two, and
sometimes all three streets to hit, which means two and sometimes three more rounds of betting after the flop.
Considering that bets generally tend to get higher with each successive street, you could wind up spewing 35-
50% of your stack taking a chance on a hand that will most likely not connect. So get rid of those mid-range
suited connectors (J-10 or lower) and concentrate on pockets that have a better chance of giving you a strong
hand when you connect with the flop, such as two Broadway cards, an Ace with at least a 10 kicker, or big pocket
pairs (Jacks or higher).

At this stage it is okay to set mines with middle pocket pairs (6s through 10s) but only if you are in late position
and can reasonably expect to see the flop for cheap (3 BB or less).

You also want to forget bluffing until you build your stack size back up. A bluff is a series of bets, not just one
large, random bet. At this stage, you don't have enough of a stack to set up a proper bluff (pre-flop raise, C-bet and even larger turn and/or river
bet). And if your stack has gotten this small, you may be one of the shorter stacks at the table, so you're really not going to scare away everybody
with a bluff.

It's also time to reconsider your posture when it comes to defending your big blind. If you've got less than 30 BBs left, don't waste any more chips
calling with junk from the big blind, no matter what the pot odds might indicate.

Say you are faced with the following scenario:

So many experts will say you should call because it's only 2 more BBs to get a chance at a 13-14 BB pot.
The price is right, they'll scream.
But is it really worth risking 10 percent of your stack playing J-6 off in a four-way pot when you are out of position after the flop? When you're
sufficiently deep-stacked, it makes a little more sense to take a shot at seeing a miracle flop come up, but if you are dealt junk in the BB and are
facing a raise, don't be a hero.

Because blinds are constantly going up it is important not to fritter away a lot of your dwindling stack on speculative hands, failed bluffs, or
defending blinds. Leave the gambles to the big stacks. Your job is to make them pay when they chase a straight or flush so you can get out of Big
Stack Envy.

Short Stack Video Tutorial

In most tournaments there will come a point where you are short stacked and need to decide when to make a move. That doesn't mean you
should just throw your chips in the pot without forethought! Instead, know why you're moving all in. Do you want calls or do you want folds? Make
the best decision you can and don't second guess it. This video shows you that putting all of your chips into the center of the table doesn't have to
be such a daunting move.

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0 :0 0 / 4 :2 1

Vertically Challenged Stack

When your stack dips into this territory, it's time for more changes. Stop playing small or middle pocket
pairs. You are most likely going to need to hit a set for those to pay off, and the chances of flopping a set
are about 13% or so, or about once for every eight pairs. You spend 3 BBs chasing a set with a low or
middle pocket pair twice, and there goes almost half your stack.

It's also time to stop limping. Sure, it's tempting to try to limp into a hand and see a flop for cheap, but
this is a bad idea for several reasons. First, you're not building up a meaningful pot. When you're in
Vertically Challenged Stack territory and you win a hand, you want it to be a sizeable pot that can help you
get out of this territory and at least back into Big Stack Envy range. A limped pot, even with four players,
will only have 4 BBs plus another 1 or 2 BBs if antes have kicked in. Adding 5 BBs to your stack is really
not going to make a major difference at this juncture. When you get into this range you are looking for a
double up.

Limping also allows more players into a hand, which decreases your chances of winning and also puts you at risk for a re-raise. A savvy player in
the big blind with three limpers in front of him may decide to put in a re-raise to see if he can scoop the pot, then you've either wasted a BB or are
going to force yourself to spend more of your precious chips playing less-than-premium cards in a potential multi-way pot. At this stage, you
simply can't afford to put chips into a pot and then not even see the flop, even if it is just one BB.

Remember that you should only be playing premium hands at this point, so when you get a hand to play it's not a bad idea to up your pre-flop
aggression. If your normal range for pre-flop raises is 2-3 times the BB, now is a good time to jack that up to 4 or even 5 times the BB. It may
seem counterintuitive to increase your normal pre-flop bet size when you have a small stack, but look at it from your opponent's perspective - if
they see a player willing to risk 25 percent of his stack pre-flop, they should figure you are really strong and are not afraid to get all your chips
into the middle of the table during this hand.

Your ideal situation at this point is to be heads-up after the flop. For example, an AK suited will beat an AJ
suited about 70% of the time. But throw in a third player who calls with Q-10 off, and the AK's win
percentage drops to 47%. You still have the best chance among the three players, but now you're less than
50/50 to win. Increasing your pre-flop aggression helps by reducing the number of players who see the flop.

Blind stealing is very important in the latter stages of tournaments, when antes have kicked in and blinds are
getting huge, but when you've got less than 20 BBs, proceed with caution. This is when you have to look at
the risk/reward ratio. Let's say you have 15 BBs on the button and it folds to you. If you shove and both
blinds fold, you have gained only 2-3 BBs. Risking your entire tournament life with marginal cards just to
pick up 2-3 blinds is not a sound long-term strategy.

Position becomes less important at this stage. In fact, an argument can be made that being out of position
(i.e. first to act after the flop) is advantageous because it gives you a chance to be the aggressor and go all-
in after the flop, thereby giving your opponent a chance to fold.

If you've been a big stack for much of the event and have found yourself suddenly demoted to the "short
stack" category (5-20 big blinds), stop. Breathe. Relax.
 There can sometimes be a feeling of pressure to immediately ship it to get back to where you once were, or
maybe a feeling of defeat - that it's all over except for the formalities. This is not the case. Patience in these
situations will serve you far better than instantly beginning to shove any two. Evaluate your table, pick your
spots, and realize that you are still in the tournament.

Matt Vaughan (Scourrge)

Short Stack Complex

Once you reach this stage (10 BBs or less), your only options are fold or shove pre-flop. If you are at the upper end of this range, you can be a
little selective and try to wait for a monster (AQ or better, JJs or better). If you are at the bottom end (5 BBs or less), you are basically looking for
the first opportunity to shove all-in - any pocket pair, any ace, any Broadway pocket - and hope for the best.

Final thoughts
Learning to play with a short stack is much more important for tournament players than cash players. In cash games, the blinds are constant and
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players can reload if they choose. In tournaments, blinds are constantly increasing, and you can't simply add to your stack whenever you want.

When playing with a short-stack, you have to be really patient and look for big hands. In these ranges, you are in danger of being taken all-in on
any given hand, so do you really want to go out of a tournament with pocket 4s or playing 8-9 suited? Or would you prefer to go out guns blazing

with an A-K suited or pocket Jacks?

Every tournament poker player has a story about how they were down to their last few blinds and came back to win a tournament. It can be done,

and mastering the short-stack techniques listed above can help you get a comeback story worth sharing.

Wait for late position unopened pot, 4 or less players to act behind you ship it with any 2 cards if you have
less than 10 bigs. Pick up the blinds & antes if they fold. Short stack hands to shove with 20 or less big
blinds?

Ruth Hall (HallTxholdem)

Category Stack size Action

Big Stack Envy 20-30BB Tighten up, play big hands and position, eliminate set mining
with small pairs (<77), stop bluffing, forget about defending
your big blind.

Vertically 10-20BB Only play monsters, be willing to go all-in on a pre-flop re-

Challenged raise, increase pre-flop bet sizing, no limping or blind stealing,
stop set mining with middle or small pocket pairs (<JJ).

Small stack complex <10BB Shove first playable hand.

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More MTT Guides

Beginner's Guide

Poker Tournament Risk Management

 Early Stages MTT Tournament Strategy

Playing Out of Position in MTT's

MTT Short Stack Guide

MTT Big Stack Guide

MTT Strategy Advice that SUCKS!

MTT Bankroll Management

Why Tournaments Will Always Be Softer Than Cash Games

Re-buy Tournament Strategy

Folding Decent Hands Preflop in MTT's

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