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So you’re playing in a No-Limit Hold ’em tournament and the cards haven’t gone your way. Suddenly you reach down to fondle your stack of chips and realize there aren’t many there for the clacking. No one wants to encounter a short-stacked situation, but it happens to everyone and it happens often. Having a short stack makes cashing a long, arduous, uphill road, but it’s a road that can be conquered with a combination of luck and patience.
There are varying definitions for what qualifies as a short stack. The most popular gauge is a stack that is less than 10 times the big blind. If you are in a tournament that has reached the point where antes are being taken along with the blinds, then the best way to do the short-stack math is to figure out how much one turn around the table will cost you; if you have less than five times that amount, then you are short stacked. (For example, if the blinds are 100/200 with a 25 ante and nine players are at the table, then one time around will cost you 525 chips, which means a stack of 2,625 or less is in the danger zone.)
There are a couple lines of thinking when it comes to dealing with a short stack. A common belief is that any time you are dealt an Ace, you should push all-in. I do not subscribe to that thinking.
Let’s say the blinds are 100/200 and you are down to 1,100 chips. You have A-5 and you are in early position. You throw all-in with that hand, then a player calls. Odds are very good that you are facing one of two scenarios: 1) a pair higher than your 5, or 2) an Ace-high hand where you are dominated by a higher kicker.
In both of those cases your opponent is about a 70-percent favorite to win the hand. It varies depending on the suits of the cards and how big the pair/kicker is, but that’s approximately where you stand.
I’m not a big fan of those odds. And aside from getting a call from a player holding K-Q, or perhaps from a loose player with a huge stack who is seeking to throw a knockout punch with 10-8 suited or something, you probably aren’t going to get a call from an underdog. So grabbing the 300 in blinds might be your best shot at victory, and that’s not much of a victory.
I would rather be a little more patient and see if I can catch a pair or an A-10 or better. Yes, it might require watching the blinds go by, which in this case would take my 1,100 stack down to 800. However, if I can grab a big hand, odds are I’ll get a caller or two at 800, where a win will improve my stack to the 1,700-2,700 range. While 1,700 isn’t much better than the 1,400 I’d have if I can steal the blinds with A-5, it serves another purpose. Let’s say you turn over K-K when you go all-in with your short stack; maybe that next time around when you have a hand like 3-3 or A-8 and would like to steal the blinds, that guy with A-10 or 6-6 might think twice about calling.
So you ask, "what if that big hand never arrives?" OK, let’s say I have watched the blinds go through me once and they are approaching again without my seeing any high-quality hands. I’m sitting on the button with J-8 suited, and there is a raise.
Throw in those final 800 chips. Let’s say the raiser has A-K suited in a different suit than the one in your hand. A-K is only 63-37 to beat the J-8. Those are better odds than you would get with A-5 against a middle pair or an A-x with a higher kicker.
I shared the story of a single-table online tournament in which I had 100 chips with five players remaining and the blinds at 200/400. After tripling, then quadrupling up on (very fortunate) back-to-back hands, I was able to grind my way back and won the tournament.
Yes, that was a Seabiscuit moment, but they can happen. It takes some luck, no question, but if you can be a little patient and not jump the gun too soon, a short stack can be your ally.
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