[Beavis68]

I got news for you pal, most poker players are losers.

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I'd like to settle some of the issues being discussed here, but first, let me explain my background. After reading about short stackers in HSNL I decided to see how effective they were. So, I purchased 8 months of 200NL data from someone who datamines PokerStars. From there, I made a script that ran through and picked out all the short stackers and counted how many hands they had played as short stacks.

Something like 95% of the players did not play more than 400 hands of short stacking. Of the 5% that did do it for more than 400 hands, 95% of those players were long term losers. And the few that did win, the sample size was not large enough to say conclusively that they were winners. Don't get me wrong, it is possible to do it effectively, but it requires a patience and discipline that not many have. And, if you do have it, you're better off playing full stacked because you're going to be a good player.

Also, I should say that short stacking can be better the more aggressive the games. Some of the NL5000 shortstackers do very well, but thats only because the games are intensely aggressive. Even then though, if you can win doing that you're better off buying in full.

Here's the point:
- Most short stackers are losers
- The winners are better off playing full stacked
- If you raise the min buyin, you eliminate all those players that lose money from buying in short. If you truly want to kill online poker, all the poker sites have to do is raise the min buyin.

They may be more annoying to play against, but its just something you have to adapt to. Most are terrible, and telling them to [censored] off is bad for you in the long run.

Regards,
Nichomacheo

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