Short-stackers in cash games are like mosquito bites – annoying and hard to avoid. Find out if you’re a short-stack killer with the latest PokerPlayer quiz
Q1. Open or close
Players 6 Blinds $0.25/$0.50 Your stack $50 Your hand 6♠-7♠
Action
It’s folded to you on the button of a six-max game holding a suited connector. The small blind is a weak player with a $50 stack, and the big blind is a notorious short-stacker playing $7.50. What should you do?
Decision
a) Fold
b) Limp
c) Min-raise to $1
d) Raise to $2
Q2. Reaction time
Players 6 Blinds $0.50/$1 Your stack $100 Your hand A♣-2♠
Action
It’s folded to a shorty on the button who is playing $25. You know him to be loose preflop, but to have a tight range when playing back against three-bets. He raises to $2. The small blind calls. You have A-2 in the big blind. What should you do?
Decision
a) Fold
b) Call
c) Three-bet squeeze to $8
d) Move all-in
Q3. Situation or strength
Players 3 Blinds $1/$2 Your stack $250 Your hand A♣-J♣
Action
It’s three handed and you raise to $5 on the button with A♣-J♣. A hyper-aggressive short-stack three-bets to $17 with $40 behind. A good reg in the big blind four-bets to $40. You’ve been having a lot of preflop battles with him so far. What should you do now?
Decision
a) Fold
b) Call the $40
c) Raise to $88
d) Move all-in
Q4. The giant shovel
Players 9 Blinds $1/$2 Your stack $200 Your hand – see below
Action
It’s folded to an aggressive short-stacker in the cut-off who likes to gamble. He shoves his 18BB stack ($36). Everyone folds. You are in the big blind. Which of these hands should you call with?
Decision
a) A-T offsuit
b) 5-5
c) K-Q suited
d) All of the above
Q5. Post shorts
Players 6 Blinds $0.50/$1 Your stack $100 Your hand 8♣-7♣
Action
A short-stack with $25 raises to $3 in the cut-off. You have 8♣-7♣ on the button. The blinds have $54 and $123 stacks, respectively. What should you do?
Decision
a) Fold
b) Call
c) Three-bet to $9
d) Three-bet to $12
Answers
- c) Min-raise to $1. When you have a hand that can’t call a shove from a short-stacker you want to risk the minimum preflop, making a min-raise the optimal play.
- c) Three-bet squeeze to $8. Due to the read you have on the short-stack you know that he won’t be four-bet jamming on you light. His range will mostly consist of all pairs and better A-x hands than yours. Because you hold an Ace the likelihood of him having an Ace is reduced, helping the chances of your bluff getting through. If he does jam you should fold. The small blind is a non-factor in the hand. If he had a strong holding he would be three-betting a short-stack almost 100% of the time – you can almost guarantee he will be folding to a squeeze.
- a) Fold. The presence of the short-stack is the main factor influencing your decision in this hand. A good reg is not going to cold four-bet bluff a shorty who has shown that he is committed to going with his hand. Therefore the reg must have a strong hand himself.
- d) All of the above. If a short-stacker is known to love the gamble his shoving range will be extremely wide. You should be calling with any pair larger than 4-4, A-7+ and your strongest K-x hands. While you will sometimes be behind if you call this wide, you will still be ahead of your opponent’s overall shoving range, making it +EV.
- a) Fold. Suited connectors play best when you are deep-stacked against an opponent. That’s because you can either make a huge hand or, just as important, pick up a draw and play it aggressively because you have fold equity. Versus a short-stack you don’t have this benefit and should stick to playing hands with a high card in them.
