What is the Short Stack Strategy?

Video to the Article 

Poker without strategy is like riding a bicycle in the city center
while wearing a blindfold during rush hour. You simply won't get very far. It doesn't matter if it's only down the road or to the next
burger shop around the corner, in the end you'll fall flat on your
face.

Your other option is to take off the blindfold, open your eyes, and learn to play poker so that you actually know what you're doing. A first big step in this direction is a special strategy you will get to know now, the
so-called Short Stack Strategy. It's small, compact, easy to learn
and to use, yet still incredibly effective.

The principle behind it is pure mathematics. Let's imagine that
two of your friends are sitting in a pub and playing poker. Each of them has 100 dollars in front of him. You join them, sit down and want
to play as well, but you only have 20 dollars in your wallet. They
say: “It's alright. Play with your 20.”

Gain-/Stack-Ratio

So what has actually happened now? If we create a mathematical model
of this situation and recalculate the values, we see that suddenly
both of your friends are facing a dilemma. They have to proceed differently against a
player with 100 dollars than against one with only 20 dollars.

Yet since they are facing both types of stack sizes at the same table, they can't play
against both of them optimally at the same time. Thus they have to decide who
their main opponent will be. Naturally, they will chose the player with the 100 dollars as there is more to gain from him. Hence they have to take the fact into consideration that they will sometimes have to make the wrong decisions against you.

This is the core principle of the short stack strategy. As the name already
implies, short stack simply means that you have a small amount of money at the table, so a limited
amount of chips (stack).

The playing principle is simple:

• You sit down at the table with
  only a small amount of money.
• You only play few, very strong hands.
• If you play, you try to get all your money in the middle in order
  to maximize your winnings. If you have nothing, you fold. You try to avoid close decisions.

With this you are able to build up your poker bankroll, until you want to switch to another game variant or another strategy for which
you are still currently lacking the money. As a beginner you can get your feet wet
in relative safety and gather experience, without being overrun by
complex situations.

Video: Basics
.
	You can also watch the content of this article in video format.  Simply click the picture in order to open the video. You should still read the article though, in order to ensure that you have really understood the strategy.  Your bankroll will be thankful.

2. What do you have to keep in mind when
you sit down at a table?

Not every table is playable and with some you already know
beforehand that they are not profitable to play on. So, which tables are
profitable for you? There are two main rules:

• You always need at least 7
  opponents, otherwise you will pay the big blind too often and would therefore be forced to play differently.
• Preferably, you always need as many players as possible with
  a lot of money at the table. Avoid other short stack strategy
  players! They are not your source of income.

You will often join a table with the big blind still being a few
seats away. You could now pay the big blind out of turn and
immediately be part of the game. But this is wrong. Pay heed to this
rule throughout your entire poker career: Never pay the big blind out of
turn. It is lost money. Instead wait until it is your turn to chip in
some cash.

Of course there is still the question with what buy-in you should
join the game. The short stack strategy is a mathematical strategy
which only works if you do not exceed or drop below a certain amount.

More precisely: The short stack strategy only works when you have
between 15 to 25 big blinds at your disposal. A reminder: The big blind is a forced bet meant to induce the players to enter pots
in an attempt to compensate for that expense. Along with the small blind, it always moves clock-wise around the table.

• Always buy in with 20 big blinds.
  If the big blind is $0.10, you take $2.00 to the table.
• If you end up with less than 15 big blinds, you rebuy back to 20 big blinds.
• In case you win and have more than 25 big blinds, stand
  up and leave the table, as you can no longer play profitably. This
  has nothing to do with skill. With a middle sized stack you will be forced to make mistakes from a mathematical point of view.

Buy in with how much? When to leave the table? Limit You buy in with... You rebuy when you have.. You leave the table with... Every limit 20 big blinds 15 big blinds or less more than 25 big blinds NL10(0.05/0.10) $2 $1.50 or less (to $2) $2.50 or more NL20(0.10/0.20) $4 $3 or less (to $4) $5 or more NL25(0.10/0.25) $5 $3.75 or less (to $5) $6.25 or more NL50(0.25/0.50) $10 $7.50 or less (to $10) $12.50 or more

3. How do you continue now?

As you know by now, the short stack strategy is based upon two
essential principles: You only bring a small amount to the table,
which changes your playing style. You only play a few, but very strong hands.

A small amount means that you always sit down at a table with 20 big blinds. If you have gathered more than 25 big blinds, you stand
up and look for a new table.

Now to the strategy as such. The following roadmap shows you what
you will learn in the next few minutes. In the next article we will
discuss which hands you can actually play profitably at all: Which
hands to play pre-flop?

	Which hands to play pre-flop? In the second lesson you learn how to play in the first betting round, so which hands to play before the first three community cards are put down on the board.
	How do you play after the flop? Next you learn how to play when the community cards join the action.
	How to go your own way – Bankroll Management In poker, it is crucial to have a bigger plan. After all, you want to play successfully in the long term. For this you need bankroll management.

4. Appendix: Answers

Question 1: You sit down at a NL10 table, so the big blind is $0.10. How much money do you take to the table?	b)		$2.00
Question 2: You play on a NL10 table with the big blind being $0.10. When should you leave the table?	a)		When you have more than $2.50
Question 3: You sit at a NL10 table with the big blind being $0.10. When should you rebuy?	c)		When you have less than $1.50.
Question 4: How many opponents do you need at a table to play profitably?	a)		At least 7
Question 5: You sit down at a new table. Should you immediately join the game and pay the big blind out of turn, or should wait until it's your turn to pay it?	a)		Wait