I play a lot of 1/2 NLHE ring games. In the past there was always a short stacker at any table but recently there seems to have been an explosion. Yesterday I sat at a table with 4 short stackers.
Short stackers are players that sit down at a table with the minimum buy-in and have the intention to double up and will then leave the table. Some do this while multi-tabling. It is very annoying when you open from late position with AT suited and the short stacker in the big blind shoves.
But are they really that annoying or can you actually profit from them? Most short stackers are not interested in post-flop play. With few exceptions most suck at post-flop play. They either fold pre or get it in. Sometimes they will call a bet pre and then fold or shove on the flop.
In my experience when short stackers shove they usually have 88+ or AQ+. Sometimes I see 66-77, AJ or QK. Most of the times they will not be holding such a good hand and will hand over their blinds to you if you bet with any two cards. If they do shove just fold or if you have their range covered, call and double up. But even if you do call with JJ and they happen to have QQ, you only loose $40 of your $200 stack.
Personally I will only call with TT+ or AQ+ unless my notes tell me his range is wider but then I still want 88+ or AJ+.