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We have all been there. It could have been a bad beat or just bad play on our part. Hopefully we haven't just bled chips away. Anyway, now we are short on chips and think we know what to do and how to play it, right? Well, maybe.

When it comes to short-stacked play most strategy and tactical approaches are based on your stack in relation to the blinds. Right? After all, that's how most books tell ya to look at it. Under 20 blinds, we gettin' kind of low. Under 15, don't hold your breath. 10 or under, holy crap ship it in now with any 2 cards. This is one way to look at short-stack play and it can be effective to base your moves on your stack in relation to the blinds (and antes if applicable). If it wasn't effective it wouldn't be the most popular way to determine your moves and the method recommended by so many books. However, when playing poker (with friends, co-workers, other pros if ya are one) we always discuss hands, how we would play them and even overall strategy at a table in or a tourney. What conclusion do we often draw? That there isn't always just one way to play a hand or just one strategy that is successful. So, why is it that we don't hear much talk about other ways to play the short stack? There should be so much more discussion on this topic.

<span> </span>Ok, here we go. One of the biggest and earliest lessons when people first take up poker is that ya can’t always just play your cards. Ya gotta play the person or the table equally if not more so than your cards. So then, why is the biggest and most popular theory on short-stacked play based on just your chips in relation to the blinds? Hmmmm, got ya thinkin’ now huh? Try this on for size: BASE YOUR DECISIONS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR STACK IN RELATION TO THE AVERAGE CHIP STACK AT THE TABLE. <span> </span>POW!!!<span> </span>There it is, my alternative approach to playing the short stack. Think about it. <span> </span>Now your moves can impact others and put them to tough decisions. Ya can even scoop a few pots without challenge. Even if you don’t have many blinds, others might not either. In many tourneys (especially in cheaper ones) there aren’t long levels and tons of play. That means, chances are ur not the only one with less blinds than desired. So when the time comes for you to shove, the decision can be based on the table’s chips, not the blinds. By doing this and picking the right spots ya can really grow your stack nicely. Sometimes, ya can even do it w/o shoving all ur ammo into the pot. Of course, there will be times when no matter what theory ya use, your chips need to go in. But give this theory a try, I think ya might find some success with it.

<span> </span>I know this can sound a little funny so I think it is time to give an example with some numbers.

<span> </span>Facts:

<span> </span>50 people left in a tourney that started with 250. 5 tables of 10 left.

<span> </span>5k starting stack so 1.25 million in play making the ave. stack 25k. The ave. table has 250k.

<span> </span>Blinds are 500-1,000 (100 ante). Your table only has 175k on it. You have 12.5k.

<span> </span>The old theory of short-stacked play would tell ya in this situation that one trip around the table is going to cost you 2,500 or exactly 20% of your stack. You need to look to move sometime soon. This may not be true. You might have more play than ya think. You don’t absolutely have to shove if your gonna play the hand. All-in or fold might not be here just yet. Your 12.5k is 50% of the average tourney stack that is 25k. However, on your table the average stack is 17,500 and your 12,500 is just over 71% of that.<span> </span>Nobody is calling down an all-in for 71% of their stack unless they have an absolute monster hand. <span> </span>If you get a call, you are totally screwed. By going all-in, you really are losing tons of value in your hands. I know people will say that most of the time you won’t be called and you can pick up the blinds/antes a few times and build that way. And that is true. But at the table you are seated at, it is still too risky. Don’t forget this is a tourney, ya can’t reload here. If your all-in bet is 71% of the ave. stack why not just lead out with a standard 3x the blind raise and make it 3k to go? You still have a chance to pick up the pot right there just like the way the all-in will push everyone away, and this has so much less risk. That 3k is still nearly 20% of the average stack at your table, plenty to get people to fold pre-flop. There is also the chance that you get multiple callers. Here you can really build a stack quickly, too. If you hit that flop hard and there are multiple players in the pot, good chance someone else hit part of it too. Now you can move in and your remaining 9.5k is less than a pot-sized bet when ya factor in the blinds/antes and a call is quite likely and now you have just way more than doubled up and are above the average chip stack at the table. By not moving in pre-flop you have also left yourself the option to get off your hand on the flop and live to fight another battle.

<span> </span>Without going into depth, the reverse situation must also be true when subscribing to my method of short-stacked play. Simply put, if your table has a much greater number of chips on it than the average table, you may need to move even sooner than if you followed the conventional method of play based on number of blinds.

<span> </span>That’s all I’ve got 4 now!!! Peace!!!

<span> </span>-Richie