Refusing to play with short stacked players?

[rchandra]

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The way I see it, I have very little to gain, and a lot to lose by playing with people who have no money in front of them.


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Let's suppose you plan to play until somebody has all the money on the table. Sure you have more to lose if you have more money, but you are much more likely to be the one who wins, assuming equal skill. These factors will cancel out and so your EV is exactly equal to the amount of money in front of you, irrespective of their stack sizes. There is a proof of this concept in Sklansky's Tournament Poker. The other players being shorter than you does not harm you assuming you know how to play. (obvious example, don't call $2 from the $6 stack with a speculative hand) A short stack can harm you when your must play poorly against shortie to exploit weaknesses of a deeper stack, but that situation will not apply here as the other stack is also short, and it can't ever apply if you are assuming equal skill.

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Also, is my reasoning ridiculous? (having everything to lose and nothing to gain)

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Your reasoning isn't ridiculous, just not completely thought out. And if you have bankroll considerations you might be better off locking up the win anyway, but that's a whole 'nother topic.