Your resource for online freeroll texas holdem poker tournaments!

Poker Tournament Strategy: The Short Stack

In many poker tournaments, including freerolls, you may find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a short stack. How you handle short stacks will determine a great deal about your success in poker tournaments. Here are some basics to consider about your poker tournament short stack.

Don't Wait Until it's Too Late

You should never let yourself get blinded off in an online Texas Holdem tournament. If you're putting your last chips in as a blind, you have very little chance. You are playing a random hand, there is no real danger to anyone who calls you and even if you win, you will have very few chips. When you've got about five or ten rounds of blinds worth of chips left, you should be looking for that spot to move.

Get the Chips in First

Unless you have a real monster, you should wait until you can be the first one in the pot to push your whole stack in. If you are, there is a good chance you can add significantly to your stack without even having to show down your hand. If someone has already entered the pot, everyone after you has better odds to call and the initial caller/raiser will have a hard time folding as well, meaning you will have to win the hand outright to survive.

Get in with a Hand You Can Win

When you play in Texas Holdem tournaments, it is certainly better to get in with a better than average hand than to be forced to put in all your chips in with two rags because of the blinds. However, you should be looking for a hand that can win in a showdown. Many players look for any ace or pair to make their move. The problem with moving with a bad ace is that anyone who calls you probably has you beat, unless your stack is so short that it is meaningless to another stack to call you. You may be better off moving with two high cards like KJ or suited connectors like Td Jd than with A6. This is also dependent on your position. If you are on or close to the button an A6 is a much better hand to move in with since it is unlikely that one of the last two or three players has you beat.

Play Position

If your stack is short, but still big enough to be a threat, you may want to consider moving with any two cards in either the button or the small blind. There are only one or two players who can challenge you and unless they have a monster, which is unlikely, they will often decide it's not worth it and let you have the pot.