Sometimes we get short stacked in a tournament to the point that when the big blind comes around again it will force us all in with whatever cards the dealer decides to give us. Now, you have to make a decision. You are at the point that I describe as, if you do not choose your cards, the blinds will choose them for you. There are a few things to keep in mind when making the decision as to what cards you will choose to play before the blinds get to you.
You must remember that you are so small stacked, you are not going to be pushing anyone out of the pot, so your all in is meaningless to the others at the table and their decision to call or fold.
One thing to remember is to think past the pre-flop action even though you won't have and chips to control the action post flop... your decision pre-flop can have some influence on what the other players do after the flop.... Example.
Say the blinds are 500/1000 and you have 1050. Alot of people are tempted to simply shove all 1050 into the pot. I think in most cases this is a mistake. You see if you shove, more times than not, you will simply get callers from all around the table, and a check down to the river to eliminate you, but if you were to simply call, then you increase the possibility that someone might raise in later position to get you all in, or they might bet after the flop to get you all in.. well it is only 50 to you to call, but now it will be 1000 for the other players in the hand to call, causing the other players to fold, giving you better odds, thus giving you protection.
Now, how to choose your cards to move all in with, as a short stack.
A pocket pair might just be the worst cards to choose to go with in this situation.(with Multiple callers) I mean even pocket Aces lose their ability to win with every caller that decides to get into the pot, and after you have shoved all your chips in you have nothing left to do that would allow you to protect those aces against draws. So in this case, aces are simply a 2 outer.
Give me a hand like 9 10 suited. That is the sort of hand I want to be all in with as a short stack. Hands like that have the best chance to win in a multi-way pot, which this more than likely will be because you are so short stacked. Suited connectors, have a chance of making a straight or a flush and both of those hands are usually powerful enough to survive a multi-way pot.
The last thing to remember is this... sometimes it is counter productive to get all your chips in before the big blind gets them in for you. Say you are under the gun with the Big Blind on your right. If you choose to go all in on this hand, and you win that hand. You still may not have accumulated enough chips to survive both the big blind and the small blind. So you might be better off to simply wait until the Big Blind comes and let the cards fall where they may, because if you happen to win that hand the small blind is less of a factor for you giving you 10 more hands before you have to make any decisions like that again.
Here is your example. You are Under the gun with the Big Blind on your right. The blinds are 500/1000 with 50 antes and you have 350 chips with 9 other players at the table. If you move all-in in this instance, and you get 4 callers, including the SB, you will get 1700 chips.. then next hand the BB and ante will cost you 1050 leaving you with 650, and the next hand you will be the small blind costing you 550, leaving you 100 chips, and being able to see 2 hands after that before the antes get you all in....
It might be better to let the Big Blind choose your cards for you, take the same example but with the big blind choosing your cards.
In that case you still have the same 1700 chips if you win that Big Blind hand, BUT.... after your Small blind passes you, then you will have 1150 in chips..... giving you some more free looks (less antes) at some more hands.
I hope you find this a help, and I look forward to your comments or questions.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/2009 10:14PM by DrCheckRaise.
