So we've gone over the nuances and situations to play short or deep. I've been so interested in this topic that I've continued to search out articles on the subject. One thing that came up was what the bankroll requirements are for Short stack Poker in comparison to Deep stack Poker.I needed to look back at my bankroll strategies I posted in a very early and very popular article. Poker Diversification: Bankroll Management
If you are trying to learn to play shorthanded poker, then I personally suggest playing at the same levels you would play at with full buy-ins. Shorthanded poker is a challenge for your common logic and psychology and can easily turn a winning player into a losing one without some practice. Once you can get used to the short stack style of playing you can begin to loosen up your bankroll limits as follows:
Gambler:
Full Buy In: 10 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, you would want a bankroll of $1000)
Half Buy In: 17 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $50 would want a bankroll of $850)
Quarter Buy In: 30 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $25 would want a bankroll of $750)Half Buy In: 17 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $50 would want a bankroll of $850)
Conservative:
Full Buy In: 20 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, you would want a bankroll of $2000)
Half Buy In: 33 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $50 would want a bankroll of $1650)
Quarter Buy In: 55 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $25 would want a bankroll of $1325)
Ultra-Conservative:
Full Buy In: 30 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, you would want a bankroll of $3000)
Half Buy In: 45 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $50 would want a bankroll of $2250)
Quarter Buy In: 80 Buy Ins (In a $.5/1 No Limit game with $100 max buy in, but buying in for $25 would want a bankroll of $2000)
Of course these numbers aren't exact science, but it should serve as a general guideline. Remember these guidelines only apply to those who have at least become sufficient at shortstack poker. The better you become at short stack poker, and learn to exploit the big stacks, you can become more and more loose on your bankroll requirements.
This will allow people to build up bankrolls and move up the limits faster than normal. Just remember not to speed up the limits too fast, if you hit a hard losing streak after hitting a limit remember to jump back down to make sure you don't piss away your hard earned bankroll on a limit that you can't compete in yet.
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Short stack decisions. With a short stack at a table full of big stacks, you will make fewer and much easier decisions after the flop. With deep stack poker you are often forced to make difficult decisions all the way until the showdown. With a short stack you can commit all your chips.
How short your stack is will determine your starting hands. With a short stack your implied odds (see A Quick Easy Guide To Odds in Poker.) will be limited because you can only win as much money as you have in your stack. Example: you have a $5 stack at the $.1/.25 NL game. You expect the most a main pot will get to in this game is probably $15 dollars if you commit all your chips and two others commit as well. If you instead had $25 at the table, your implied odds against another big stack will be around $50 if you can get him to commit fully to a hand by the showdown, thus your implied odds of limping in with a hand is much better with a full stack. This means that you can still chase with your small suited connectors but beware that your implied odds are a little worse off.
This brings up another aspect of short stack poker that was illustrated in the last example. With a short stack your implied main pot was three times the size of your stack where the deep stack
had an implied pot of only twice his stack. This is a concept that hasn't been defined by anyone. I will be a pioneer and call it the speculative odds. This is the odds that if you hit your draw or hit a big hand that you will actually see the big pot that was used to calculate your implied odds.
With a short stack you are more likely to see a bigger main pot relative to your stack size. Often a small stack will get involved all-in with more than one big stack. A deep stack if played correctly should have the action down to heads up if he's playing another deep stack by the time of the showdown. This means the most that will make it to the pot is your stack, your opponents and the little bit from blinds and bets from other players who have since folded.
Another note on short stack pot odds. A deep stack can only bully around other deep stacks. A deep stack with a strong hand but vulnerable to drawing hands can bully the other deep stacks out of the hand who may have that drawing hand with big pot sized bets. A deep stack can't bully a short stack because the short stack only has to commit the rest of his chips to see his draw which may often be less than the size of the pot.
Psychology of short stack poker. This is probably why we see such an influx of people who prefer to play deep stacked. This psychological condition of being opposed to short stack poker is probably due to the fact that almost only tournament poker is shown on television except for High Stakes Poker. We see in tournaments that almost always the short stacks are fighting for their lives, fighting to keep themselves in their chairs, forced to make difficult decisions for their tournament life.
This is so far from the truth in cash ring games. In cash games the blinds never increase and you have unlimited buy ins, so you are never eliminated. People are easily manipulated however in their psychology. A short stack is often read as a tell by other poker players, especially online poker players. A short stack immediately is read as a fish, a newbie, etc. A deep stack is immediately read as a shark. Often when a deep stack sits at the table he can immediately begin to bully the table because people respect his big stack, even though it doesn't give him any clear advantage over other players.
A short stack on the other hand is often never respected, bets are being called down with trash hands because they think you know nothing and think you are stupid for buying in short. This is great for those who like to see flops with drawing hands, and when you connect with a set, flush, straight, etc. you will bring in some much appreciated cash from those who think you are donking off your chips.
When should you play short or deep? I touched on this in the previous article, but I have done some revising to be done on the idea of figuring out when to play short and when to play deep.
Playing short:
You should play short when you multi table. A short stack has easier decisions and fewer decisions to make post flop. This makes it easier on the people who enjoy playing 2, 3 or more tables at the same time online.
You should play short when you are at a table full of decent deep stack players. This will allow you to take advantage of your better pot odds and the added benefit of free fold equity. Good deep stack players will punish you for chasing draws when you have a deep stack, when you are short stacked, you often will get the odds to push all in to see your draw through. Good deep stack players are also good at thinning the pack by the time it comes to showdown. When you are already committed all in, there is a good chance that the good players will force the other deep stacks out of the hand by the river and showdown.
Playing deep:
You should play deep when you are playing worse mixed stack opponents. When you can consistently make better decisions than your opponents preflop and post flop you should take full advantage of that by buying in with a full stack.
You should play deep when you are fully focused on your game and on the top of your game against similarly skilled opponents. Again you will gain an edge against your other deep stacks post flop if you make good reads and good decisions.
If everyone at the table is bought in short (subsequently making them all deep stacks with large blinds) you should buy in for about the same amount as the deepest stack. The reason is that you gain no advantage over these players by buying in for the minimum as they all are already close to the minimum stack size anyway. If all these players are better than you or you aren't making the best decisions, you should stray away from this game and find a deep stacked game to buy in short.
How short your stack is will determine your starting hands. With a short stack your implied odds (see A Quick Easy Guide To Odds in Poker.) will be limited because you can only win as much money as you have in your stack. Example: you have a $5 stack at the $.1/.25 NL game. You expect the most a main pot will get to in this game is probably $15 dollars if you commit all your chips and two others commit as well. If you instead had $25 at the table, your implied odds against another big stack will be around $50 if you can get him to commit fully to a hand by the showdown, thus your implied odds of limping in with a hand is much better with a full stack. This means that you can still chase with your small suited connectors but beware that your implied odds are a little worse off.
This brings up another aspect of short stack poker that was illustrated in the last example. With a short stack your implied main pot was three times the size of your stack where the deep stack
had an implied pot of only twice his stack. This is a concept that hasn't been defined by anyone. I will be a pioneer and call it the speculative odds. This is the odds that if you hit your draw or hit a big hand that you will actually see the big pot that was used to calculate your implied odds.
With a short stack you are more likely to see a bigger main pot relative to your stack size. Often a small stack will get involved all-in with more than one big stack. A deep stack if played correctly should have the action down to heads up if he's playing another deep stack by the time of the showdown. This means the most that will make it to the pot is your stack, your opponents and the little bit from blinds and bets from other players who have since folded.
Another note on short stack pot odds. A deep stack can only bully around other deep stacks. A deep stack with a strong hand but vulnerable to drawing hands can bully the other deep stacks out of the hand who may have that drawing hand with big pot sized bets. A deep stack can't bully a short stack because the short stack only has to commit the rest of his chips to see his draw which may often be less than the size of the pot.
Psychology of short stack poker. This is probably why we see such an influx of people who prefer to play deep stacked. This psychological condition of being opposed to short stack poker is probably due to the fact that almost only tournament poker is shown on television except for High Stakes Poker. We see in tournaments that almost always the short stacks are fighting for their lives, fighting to keep themselves in their chairs, forced to make difficult decisions for their tournament life.
This is so far from the truth in cash ring games. In cash games the blinds never increase and you have unlimited buy ins, so you are never eliminated. People are easily manipulated however in their psychology. A short stack is often read as a tell by other poker players, especially online poker players. A short stack immediately is read as a fish, a newbie, etc. A deep stack is immediately read as a shark. Often when a deep stack sits at the table he can immediately begin to bully the table because people respect his big stack, even though it doesn't give him any clear advantage over other players.
A short stack on the other hand is often never respected, bets are being called down with trash hands because they think you know nothing and think you are stupid for buying in short. This is great for those who like to see flops with drawing hands, and when you connect with a set, flush, straight, etc. you will bring in some much appreciated cash from those who think you are donking off your chips.
When should you play short or deep? I touched on this in the previous article, but I have done some revising to be done on the idea of figuring out when to play short and when to play deep.
Playing short:
You should play short when you multi table. A short stack has easier decisions and fewer decisions to make post flop. This makes it easier on the people who enjoy playing 2, 3 or more tables at the same time online.
You should play short when you are at a table full of decent deep stack players. This will allow you to take advantage of your better pot odds and the added benefit of free fold equity. Good deep stack players will punish you for chasing draws when you have a deep stack, when you are short stacked, you often will get the odds to push all in to see your draw through. Good deep stack players are also good at thinning the pack by the time it comes to showdown. When you are already committed all in, there is a good chance that the good players will force the other deep stacks out of the hand by the river and showdown.
Playing deep:
You should play deep when you are playing worse mixed stack opponents. When you can consistently make better decisions than your opponents preflop and post flop you should take full advantage of that by buying in with a full stack.
You should play deep when you are fully focused on your game and on the top of your game against similarly skilled opponents. Again you will gain an edge against your other deep stacks post flop if you make good reads and good decisions.
If everyone at the table is bought in short (subsequently making them all deep stacks with large blinds) you should buy in for about the same amount as the deepest stack. The reason is that you gain no advantage over these players by buying in for the minimum as they all are already close to the minimum stack size anyway. If all these players are better than you or you aren't making the best decisions, you should stray away from this game and find a deep stacked game to buy in short.
