As I posted earlier about the great book Professional No Limit Hold 'Em, I needed to revise some older strategies and posts. I am going to start with the subject of Short Stack poker and Deep Stack poker. I understood the differences and the advantages of both but I never really understood it tell I read this book.So I decided to write up a final iteration for the subject of short stack and deep stack poker. First, these strategies are meant for cash games, but can be used for tournaments as well. The main difference is that these strategies are based around the idea of buying back into the game and doesn't address bubble strategies, freeze outs and payout structures for tournaments.
Now for the definitions:
It is generally excepted that 80 big blinds and less makes you a short stack. 200 big blinds and higher constitutes a deep stack. And everything in between is a middle stack.
However, I feel that strategies change greatly between 20 to 100 big blinds, and beyond 100 big blinds the strategy generally stays the same. So here are my definitions:
Ultra Short: Stack size equal to or less than 20 big blinds.
Short Stack: Stack size between around 30 to 50 big blinds.
Middle Stack: Stack size around 50 to 70 big blinds.
Deep Stack: Stack size around 80 to 100 big blinds.
Ultra Deep Stack: Stack size more than 100 big blinds.
Commitment/Committing: I will use these words a lot. What they mean is that you are in a position to commit all your chips, you have no other decisions to make except to try and put in all your chips as quickly as possible without over betting.
How do you play Ultra Short Stack Poker (20BB or less)?
Starting Hands for Ultra Short Stacks. With such a small stack, just limping into the pot puts 5% of your stack in the pot. Basically every time you play a hand or you are in the big blind, you are on the verge of a committed situation. This means that you should only play hands that you plan on committing to after the flop and when you play them, you should probably only limp or make minimum bets or at the most 3bb bets.
What hands are these then? All pocket pairs are acceptable, however smaller pocket pairs, 99 - 22 should only be played from late position and never for a big raise, with these hands you should commit on the flop with an over pair or set, check/fold the rest of the time unless you think you can steal the pot successfully.
With big pocket pairs it is acceptable to either play it slow preflop and wait to see if your hand remains an over pair or you hit your set, or you can put in a raise preflop and basically commit yourself right there preflop while trying to thin out any drawing hands. I personally advocate raising here with TT-AA but mix it up, or else risk giving away your hand strength every time.
Big cards. AK, AQ, AJ, AT, and KQ. I advocate limping with these hands, but don't be afraid to raise here as well to mix up play, but I don't like to commit myself pre flop with ace high. The reason you limp with these hands is that you have such a short stack that you can still easily commit all your chips and get called on the flop with top pair/top kicker. If you have big cards and they are suited, you can now commit yourself on the flop with flush draws and straight draws with over cards if you at least have 3 way action.
Ultra Short Summary:
AA-TT come in with a raise, commit preflop if you meet re-raises. Commit on the flop with over pair or set.
99-22 limp preflop from late position, limp from early if passive table. Commit on the flop with set.
AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ unsuited. Limp preflop from middle to late position, raise occasionally, play these from early position at passive table. Commit with top pair, top kicker on the flop. With top pair, good kicker, play according to your read on the opponents, but with a short stack it's often a commit or fold decision.
AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ suited. Limp preflop from middle to late position, early position with passive table, raise occasionally. Commit with top pair, top kicker on the flop. With top pair, good kicker, play commit or fold depending on your read. Commit with flush draws and open ended straight draws.
How do you play Short Stack Poker (30-50 big blinds)?
Here you are given a little more room to breath and make a few more decisions. You can still be easily committed preflop with raises and re-raises. You can also loosen up your preflop hand selection a little as well. You can also be more aggressive preflop as well and put some more bets in the middle with more hands.
Note: If you are playing against an Ultra Short Stack(s) and no other stack sizes in a hand, then you should revert back to the strategies of playing an Ultra Short Stack. The reason is that if you have 50 big blinds and everyone in the hand is at 20 big blinds, then you are effectively only playing with 20 big blinds as well.
Starting Hands. Again, AA-TT should be played aggressively preflop. I like the idea of putting in around 10% of your stack preflop with these hands. This will commit you, and make your decisions easier post flop when you have an over pair. So around a 3-5bb bet is good, and if you hit any resistance, don't be afraid to re-raise it and get committed preflop. If you have KK and up against AA, oh well, that's why you are playing short stacked, you don't lose as much in these situations as a deep stack would and you get to see if you hit that 20% chance of sucking out by the river.
99-22 should be played the same as before. Limped in late position, early position if playing at a passive table. If you hit your set, then commit, if not then fold.
Big Cards. AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ from late position should be raised. I like around 5 to 10% of your stack to go in preflop with these cards. From early position I really only like AK and AQ with the same bet sizing. If you hit top pair top kicker, commit. If you hit your flush draw, commit. If you hit your open ended straight draw, commit. This will give you the ability to semi-bluff a lot.
Suited Connectors. Suited connectors from 67 to JQ can be played from middle to late position for a limp. Early position at a passive table. You are looking for flush draws and open ended straight draws with these hands. If you are lucky and hit two pair or a set with these hands then even better, commit.
How do you play Middle Stack Poker (50-80 big blinds)?
Now you have even more room to breath, but now you must start making more decisions on the flop, turn, and river. You aren't so easily committed anymore to any hand except sets or better.
Note: If you are playing only opponents that are short or ultra short stacks, then you should play with the previous strategies.
Starting Hands. AA-TT again you should raise these guys preflop, and semi-commit after the flop with over pairs unless you pick up a read on an opponent that he for sure has a better over pair.
99-22. Farm those sets with these guys, limp with them and commit after the flop with sets. If you have 2 or more other people in the hand that will play along, then make or calling bets preflop is acceptable.
Big Cards. These guys should be played more aggressively now. Middle to late position you should raise, early position can limp or raise depending on how you want to play the hand. Again with a larger stack you can't commit on the flop with top pair top kicker. You also can't commit on a flush or straight draw anymore too, only chase these draws with sufficient pot odds and if semi-bluffing only sufficient odds to fold your opponents plus the odds to make your hand.
Suited Connectors. Just as before, they can be played, however now you can play them aggressively too since betting preflop won't commit you to your hand. Same as above, you can semi-bluff and chase draws with sufficient pot odds.
Stealing. You can now steal more often with this stack. If you have position and a good read on your opponents, you can often steal some nice sized pots. Remember that you can only bully around the stacks that are as big or bigger than you, remember that the short stacks will commit with hands that will often beat your stealing hands.
How do you play Deep Stack Poker (80-100 big blinds)?
Now you are buying in full or close to. You can no longer commit to any hands that you don't feel ultra confident in. This makes you vulnerable to being stolen against, but it also allows you to bully the medium to deep stacks with aggression.
You should really never put chips in the middle of the pot now with the intention of committing all in without medium to top set or better. If you get caught up in a betting war with second, third, fourth best straight/flush you have to be wary. Often it's good policy to avoid going all in with another deep stack unless you have the nuts or near the nuts.
Note: Again if you are playing smaller stacks, you should adjust your strategy accordingly with the previous strategy guides.
This stack and larger is all about reading. You are in the stage where you must now really pay close attention to the table. Most of your decisions will be tough and depend on your read of the opponents. If you are a really good poker player in comparison to the rest of the table, you should want the deepest stack at the table so you can exploit this advantage.
This stack and larger is all about position. Now that you must rely on reading and not whether you are committed anymore, your hands value goes up a lot with position. Position will always make your decisions a little easier, and your reads a little better.
Starting Hands. Same as above for AA-TT, be aggressive. Depend on your reads to continue in the hand if you suspect higher pocket pairs. You often won't be fully committed with these hands unless the preflop betting is wild, or until the turn or river. So read, read, read.
99-22. Farm those sets, but now if you wish to mix up your play and be unpredictable it's acceptable to raise a few of these hands preflop. Just be careful if you have a read that your opponent is on a higher set than you.
Big Cards. Be aggressive, and read your opponents. I've seen many of deep stacks lose everything to another deep stack with a king kicker to the ace kicker. Don't commit without a solid read and sufficient odds. Chase those draws and make semi-bluffs when the hand permits and the odds justify. Avoid these hands occasionally in early position at tough tables.
Suited Connectors and Suited One Gappers. Acceptable hands as always to play, mix up your limping and raising preflop. Don't suggest playing these hands in early position unless you are at a weak table with passive easy to read opponents. I won't even consider going past the flop without an open ended straight draw or flush draw, unless I think I can steal this pot based on my reads.
Stealing. You have more power to steal from big stacks. Stealing requires good reading skills and is dangerous against unknown players whom you don't know if they like to slow play big hands. Position helps, and reading is key to playing big stacks, so with razor sharp reads you can play almost any hand in every pot.
How do you play Ultra Deep Stack Poker(100 big blinds or more)?
This stack size is definitely the toughest to play. You can almost never commit everything with a stack as large as yours without a very good hand. Even then the risk of any hand is much higher as you can now lose a lot more money. Take a look at the hand during High Stakes Poker where Daniel Negreanu lost close to a million to Gus Hansen because they were both committed with first and second best hands.
This stack is played basically the same as the Deep Stack Poker guide. You are now afforded the ability to play your hand almost any which way you like preflop. Post flop you must play your hand according to your reads in the hand, and often that is aggressively pushing out the drawing hands and the weak hands, and folding to the monster hands. When you get that monster hand it is all about disguising it and keeping everyone in the hand with money going in the pot.
Of course as I've stated before, you must play according to the stack sizes around you. You can't play a deep stack strategy against an ultra short stack. What if you are in a hand with multiple stack sizes. What strategy should you take? I recommend taking the strategy towards beating the larger, looser, easier stack and hope you get lucky when it comes to taking down the shorter stacks.
This illustrates one reason it's easier to play a shorter stack. You never have to change your strategy around depending on the stack sizes around you, but the other stacks do. However, with a short stack you aren't afforded the ability to steal as many pots, to out think your opponents post flop, or play marginal hands like suited connectors.
That ends it for this article on Short Stack and Deep Stack poker. I hope this helps you all at the NL Hold Em tables. Here is what is in store for the future of the blog.
When given the time, you should expect to see some hand examples with hand analysis from me and those at poker-strategy.org.
Articles on Professional No Limit Hold Em by Two Plus Two: Stack to Pot Ratio, another article on Committment, R.E.M. Range, Equity and Maximize.
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