[stevematador]

I have bought in for 40BB the last 3 nights rather than my usual 100BB. The big thing I noticed is, not only is it easier to play the TPTK as stated in PNL, you get nice low SPR's with ease and you can reach your commitment on the flop by getting 1/3 of your stack in and not looking back. As the authors have stated, it's usually a mistake to fold once you get 1/3 of your stack into the pot. Of course this doesn't mean blindly put 1/3 of your stack in on the flop, but when you feel you are committed (willing to go all in) you can get your 1/3 in and not look back,

The other big thing I realized is when you flop trips, it seems easier to get all your chips in and get called. For example, I had one hand where I limped with 22 and flopped trips on a 9 high board. The villian led out with a pot sized bet and I raised 3x, he thought about it and after using most of his time bank pushed me "all in". I believe my short stack swayed his decision allowing me the profitable action I was seeking. He had A9 (TPTK) and I was able to double up with a dominating hand. If I was 100BB deep I don't even think the villian even calls my flop raise let alone push me "all in."

I know often times we talk about playing less hands for "set value" etc. when playing a short stack, but it is examples like this that I believe playing for set value with shorter stacks allows us to get all our chips in much easier vs. bigger stacks when your stack is less threatening. Players will clash against my short stack with inferior hands over and over because of the less threatening stack size, they don't have the same fear or concern going against me when I only have 40BB behind me.

Obv. where the short stack hurts is when you hit "the nuts" and only double up 40BB rather than 100BB. But I really think it's much easier to get players to commit against the shorter 40BB stack. I know with much more experience it will be more profitable to buy in deep, but if you're like me and struggle at times with difficult post flop decisions with TPTK and such, the shorter buy in can be beneficial not only to building your confidence but your bankroll as well!!!

Thanks so much Matt Flynn and Sunny Mehta, for making my NL game decisions less complex [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]