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Playing as the short stack in a tournament

So you’ve been playing a tournament for a while now. It’s crunch time and the money bubble is approaching. You’ve held your own, took down some pots and knocked your share of players out. But now, things have taken a negative turn and you find yourself as the shortstack of the table. What do you do? Well, don’t just get antsy and foolishly risk all your chips for no reason. Just because you’re the shortstack doesn’t mean all hope is lost. It just means you need to pick your spot and then attack.

Over the years I’ve gotten some compliments on my shortstack play and today, I’m going to share some tactics you can use as the shortstack.

For starters, you need to know the blind structure and when they are going up. You need to be aware so you can judge how much time you have before you get blinded off. Your strategy needs to be tied to clock/blind management just as much as it needs to be tied to cards and position. Think of shortstack play as the two-minute offense in football. If the blinds are about to go up, you need to be more aggressive and loosen up your starting hands. For example, say you’re one of two shortstacks and you’re on the blinds. You should take your time. Your money is already in the pot, you have nothing to gain by playing quickly. Figure that each hand takes about a minute and plan accordingly

Next, as always, you need to know your opponents. You should always be learning about your opponents, no matter what part of the tournament, but at this time, it’s crucial. When you fold, watch and learn. You’ll be able to see who is trying to back into the prize money by staying clear of confrontation and who is pushing their big stack to establish dominance and steal blinds. We’ve all played tournaments where the people around the bubble start folding every hand, hoping that the other guys will bust first. While you’ll be tempted to steal blinds, beware! The blinds will usually only call when he’s probably got you beat. On the other hand, the bully with the big chip stack is ripe for the picking since he’s usually freer with his marginal calls.

Lastly, don’t give in to desperation. Try to get your money in the pot on your terms. If you have pocket 5’s and 2 guys have just gone all in, don’t feel the need to call off your chips. On the other hand, it is better to push with your 5’s if the action is folded to you. Be the aggressor. If you have more than 5 times the big blind, you have two full rotations to get a decent hand. You do not need to go all-in the first time you see an Ace in your hand. Remember, as shortstack, your goal is to cash, not necessarily win the whole thing, unless you are fortunate and skilled enough to make a strong enough comeback. When you have a good starting hand, it is OK to limp with it. This is to give you the opportunity to get more callers. The converse is to push with mediocre hands where you really only want one caller or, better yet, no callers giving you a blind steal and some more hands to pick your spot.

Hopefully this will help you out during desperate times in tournaments.

Until next time, may the chips fall your way.


by Johnson