Article: Attacking Shortstack for profit

[degenrat]

The Counter Strategy to shortstacks.

Feel free to add, disagree etc.

These players are easily exploitable. They all however need a different kind of strategy to be beaten.

First things first is to try and establish which player we are dealing with. i will list 3 distinct variations. there may be more, but this is a good start.

1) Complete donkey with no money. buys in short because their main goal is to lose as little as possible and hopefully strike it rich. these types of players are generally dead money. They rathole a lot. doubleing up and taking your money from the table immediately. The good news is that there are som many of these players that the money never truly leaves.

2) a solid underolled player taking a shot at a higher level. This player DOES NOT limp oop with Q5, K4 A6 type of hands. This player generally plays tight and agressive.

3)a multitabler with a plan. whether it be ratholing, nutpeddling, pushbotting, bonuswhoring whatever.

Now let's get to business.

1) the monkey/donkey/fish. This player is someone you should be happy to play pots with but don't go to them. let them come to you. What i mean is, don't loosen up requirements too much trying to outplay them. You will have outplayed them the instant you eneter a pot just by playing better cards. This type of player is donktastic. Value bet your hands, bet big enough to give bad odds. This type of player CONSTANTLY overbets draws. This player thinks bluffing is all poker is about. If you have top pair on a 2 flushed board you are ahead 99% of the time. You are even ahead of a push against this player VERY VERY often.

2)The player taking a shot. This player is closer to fundamentally sound. This player understand the basics, position, pot odds, outs etc. We can still exploit this player fairly easily. You will see very soon if they are nut peddling or here to gamble. If they are here to set mine, and nut peddle then we will adjust accordingly. Against this type of player(one who shows down a few solid holdings and no poor holdings) we take aggression very seriously. if they push or raise/reraise us we fold unles we have a VERY strong hand. This player will pay us off 2 ways, a little at a time, and with the 2nd nuts. We continuation bet every time in a hand with this opp.

3) The multitabler. This player is basically here to pushbot. we discussed this type of player here:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1

This player is a variation of th etaking a shot player mentioned in 2). This player should be avoided post flop. you want to tangle with only premium hands preflop. Except when your Opp is in th blinds. Steal it like you're a crackhead. you shoul dbe raising every blind of this player. They should only play back at you with HUGE hands. This type of player is ripe for set mining. if you can get in with enough implied odds against this player and do hit your set, you are golden. When this player is in a pot from out of the blinds it means they have a hand. when they push, it means they have a hand. playing 4-10 tables doesn't lend well to bluffing. they are just playing cards, pushing when they are supposed to. Think of it as more of a SNG strategy near the bubble.


<font color="red"> SideNote: People constantly ask which types of notes to take. The instant you see a player felt hands like Q5, K4 A6 OOP where he/she limped into the pot, you MUST make a note of it. This player is an absolute donator and a virtual money tree</font>

[Sir Winalot]

I think this is good material.

There is something I'd like to have advice on about the shortstacks. At the lower stakes, where I play, they usually minbet alot. Minbet preflop, minbet flop, minbet here, minbet there.

- How should I be countering minraising?

[kaz2107]

[ QUOTE ]
I think this is good material.

There is something I'd like to have advice on about the shortstacks. At the lower stakes, where I play, they usually minbet alot. Minbet preflop, minbet flop, minbet here, minbet there.

- How should I be countering minraising?

[/ QUOTE ]

the strategy i have been using against these players is make a descion when they min bet the flop. i always raise when they minbet assuming i was the preflop agressor (which is basically every time) and assuming they r the donk type explained by op (which again is almost always if the small stack is min betting.) the descion i make based on there stack and the size of the pot is how much to raise. if i think i am behind a decent amount of hands my raise will be small enough that i can fold to his push. (the type of hands i will do this will would be something like 77 on a AJX board. or JTs on a AK5 board with no draw) basically when i figure i am behind when he doesnt fold so much that tha pot odds will never be there.

the other choice i make is to raise enough where if he pushes i will have correct odds to make a call. if the pot is 5 dollars and he has 6 behind and leads for .5 i will raise to something like 3.5 and then call his push. hands that i will do this with are stuff like 2 overs and a backdoor flush or possibly TT on a J73 board. or if i have a open ended straight or flush draw.

i raise almost every time tho. i just make a descion on tha raise amount based on whether im willing to get it in or not.

[degenrat]

I'm with Kaz here. i raise the minbets 90% of the time. generally they are just a weak attempt at a blocking bet.

that said i DO NOT raise if i have a big hand. i call the flop call the turn and raise the river. very straight forward. this player will fold to aggression here. this is a good spot to raise the flop with a missed AK-AQ. or a middle pair(77 on a 24j board). those types of hands.

[kaz2107]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm with Kaz here. i raise the minbets 90% of the time. generally they are just a weak attempt at a blocking bet.

that said i DO NOT raise if i have a big hand. i call the flop call the turn and raise the river. very straight forward. this player will fold to aggression here. this is a good spot to raise the flop with a missed AK-AQ. or a middle pair(77 on a 24j board). those types of hands.

[/ QUOTE ]
i tend to bet my big hands here too. for one reason is that i cbet basically every hand thus i dont want to change it up depending on my hand. to easy for even a donk of a player to realize that i just call when i hit and lead/raise when i miss.

i find i get PLENTY of action when i do hit as most short stacked donks are more then willing to push in there last few dollars on mere high cards or even inside straight draws. these guys are no good and most people who are no good tend to call way to much. thus bet when u hit hard.

[degenrat]

i think that advice is contradictory. maybe i am mis-understanding. My line here is that vs a minbet from a ss weakie i will raise with any 2 on the flop. if they want to bet it for me i will let them, they will let go too often to raise big hands in this spot imo.