shortstacks pushing over my steal

[chopchoi]

I open with xx and a short stack pushes for an amount that is about twice the size of my raise. I always call. Is that a leak? If so, what should my calling range be against a typical opponent?

[ChipSpeak]

Your raising range should reflect the fact there's a shorty yet to act, do not raise any hand you're not comfortable calling the shorty.

[chopchoi]

Right. The thing is, I hate being put in this position with KJ and QJ, but I just can't bring myself to muck then when it folds to me in LP.

[hamnegger]

those hands are ok against a shortie

[sah_24]

u shouldnt be raisin wit junk vs short stacks u cant steal from them bc the blinds r committing them. I think if u choose to do so and get shoved on (which is gonna happen alot) then ur range for callin is pretty wide. Im prolly callin wit any 2 when the im getn the right price. But best advice dont try and rob shorties unless u know ur on the bubble and theyr just tryin to cash

[Shocker101]

Yeah those a good calling hands vs short stack. I believe the chips that you get by raising the blinds make it worth the chance they have to push on you.

Good play

[halpgr]

[ QUOTE ]
I open with xx and a short stack pushes for an amount that is about twice the size of my raise. I always call. Is that a leak? If so, what should my calling range be against a typical opponent?

[/ QUOTE ]
The pot odds would determine your calling range. If you're getting 3:1 or better then you always have to call.

When you consider raising you need to think about things like stack sizes of players left to act, and how likely is a short to push over my raise, and what pot odds will I be getting.

In some cases you may want to size your raise a bit lower, like 2.5 BB to allow yourself room to fold to a short push without pot odds.

In some cases you might choose to just fold instead of having to make a pot odds call for half your stack with T9 or whatever you don't want to spend half your stack on.

[BarryLyndon]

Good question, chopsoi, this is one of my biggest leaks.
The problem in these tournaments is that there are probably no antes yet and "shorty" still represents 25% of your stack.

First of all, there is a question of position. Where are you raising with KJ/QJ (two perfect hands for discussion, btw) and where is shorty restealing from? What percent of his stack is yours? Like, here is a [censored] spot, IMO:

Blinds 60/120

Hero is on button (2200) with QJo
SB (3500) very tight, predictable.
Shorty (who has been tight) has 700 in BB

Your play?

Well, if you raise, you pick up 180, which is nice. But, if you raise, and he RRs, well, you have a hell of a time folding, but when you call, I promise you are a coin flip at best, and while he is "short," you're hurting bad if you lose.

Here's another winner:

Blinds 80/160

Hero (3200) has KJs / KJo in CO
Button (1200), slightly average 20 buy-in guy: so he will RR with mid-range aces, all pairs, but say he won't do it with K10 (but would with KQ)
SB (350)
BB (4,500)

You raise standard 3x here, Button pushes, SB/BB fold.


I don't have an answer to this, except, that I've been concentrating VERY hard on working on 3-betting and limp-stealing as opposed to button stealing, because, button stealing seems less and less profitable in internet structures until near the bubble in low stakes internet tournaments. Comments greatly appreciated - this is a good post.

Barry