[deepdowntruth]

The reason that shortstackers are so secretive is that the strategy relies on a limited set of calculations for a relatively narrow set of situations, and lends itself to fairly mechanical play. The calculations are simple but non-obvious enough to the typical player that their exposure lends the strategy to easy implementation and exploitation. For shortstacking, once you learn to play it or counter, there's really not a lot you can do wrong.

Compare this to strategy discussion about full stack NLH, of which there is an overabundance available to any player who chooses to seek it. The situations and factors in NLH are so diverse and nebulous that exposure of 'secrets' is relatively safe since most players do not have the intelligence, judgement, or discipline to apply what they learn, if they bother to learn it all.

There's really no big "secret" to shortstacking that someone with the willingness to dink around with pokerstove and make a few empirical generalizations about ranges and betting patterns couldn't figure out with a week or two of work.

I've been shortstacking since before the Ed Miller book came out, though I started in live games. I realized early that as a novice I simply was not versed or experienced enough to play in a game where mistakes can be so devestating. I had to do a lot of work to determine how to balance not offering implied odds on the one hand, with playing enough to not lose money to the rake and blinds. I did fairly well and still do.

I come from a background in the humanities and was not a math guy at all when I started to figure all this out. Doing so though has made my knowledge of the math of poker much more sophisiticated and has helped me to hone my deepstack cash and tournaments skills, which I used to make a living, full and part-time, in Las Vegas and online for four years. So it's not true that a shortstacker has to be a bad player or one-dimensional.

It's certainly true that if you stop at shortstacking, you are stunting your growth as a player, but if you take it seriously and follow the math, it will lead you to conclusions about poker in general which lead you to a better all around game.

I am pretty much focused on shortstacking currently, because it allows me to multitable virtually without table limit, eke out a small profit, rake in tons of FPPs, all while watching TV, and certainly not working a hump job.