Getting from a commitment plan to the optimal line...(not2long)

[IFoldPktOnes]

I am calling against A and B. It's good that you are thinking about how the specific stack sizes effect your play, but the most important reason for keeping the pot small in these situations can be explained by ICM.

How do you profit post-flop? By playing with a strategy that maximizes the your equity relative to the equity required to break-even in a given line, dictated by the ICM-adjusted pot odds. But, as the pot builds and your stack shrinks the difference between ICM-adjusted pot odds and the apparent pot odds increases, i.e. you need a greater edge over the apparent pot odds to make a profitable play.

When you have only a small edge over your opponents range your strategy should be to keep the pot small, so that this small edge can translate to a +EV play according to ICM. This same small edge can be wasted if you bloat the pot, becoming break-even or -EV according to ICM. This is because you have increased the edge over pot odds required for a +EV play according to ICM.

It's hard to explain this concept fully without writing an essay, maybe I could try and explain this more clearly and back it up with some ICM examples as a strategy post sometime.