Tips for 40bb buyin games

[Matt G]

Looking for tips to adjust to a 40 bb max buyin game (such as 200nl with a 2/5 blind). A few of the cardrooms I play in have this. I much rather play a 100+ bb buyin and play laggy on 2/4nl online. I've already noticed that playing taggy is a lot more appropriate in these situations, but what else should i be looking to change in my game?

[Jaycee07]

The game is obviously going to become SNG like, with push/folding more common. You have to bear in mind many cards will become no longer viable to play, as their implied odds are no longer there (such as suited connectors).

[Mibbbbbbb....]

Suited connectors go down in value.

[Optisizer]

Not if you can see the flop cheaply, which you should try to do. Purpose is to catch a hand you can trap and/or go all in with. But avoid playing them (and maybe also the smallest pairs and the small suited aces) out of position and without knowing exactly what your pre-flop cost will be.
Keep an extra buyin of chips in your pocket so you can reload immediatelly up to the 40 bb you're allowed, after every failed attempt to catch the all-in hand your looking for.
Also, scale up your general aggressivenss, bet and raise sizes as you move to around 120 bb at which point you can start playing normally. I usually avoid taking any small +EV situations if I have around 100 bb and a loss would result in a stack around 80 bb, because having to start over at 80 bb is in itself an alternative cost (-EV) I like to avoid if I can.

[DPP LDR]

tight tight and more tight until youre at a bigger stack say 2.5x's your buy in when most will have less than double then obviously only play power hands out of position and then loosen up the later in position you are raise a lot from the cutoff and button use that chip position/ table position to your advantage but until then you kinda have to have it to go to a showdown

[AnyMouse]

I feel I can speak to this, as one of the smaller sites I play regularly has 25bb and 50bb max buy games. I play there in part because other players seem to have a ridiculously difficult time adjusting to this structure, hence (having properly adjusted) my bb/100 skyrockets.

One thing I've noticed is that people pay a lot of attention to stack size instead of paying attention to the size of the pot. Pots are big compared to stack size. Hence, bluffing appropriately becomes insanely profitable. You can make smaller bluffs than usual compared to pot size since they're bigger compared to people's stacks and therefore "scarier". Obviously if you get the same effect out of cheaper bluffs... $$$

Also, you can easily play for stacks with things like TPTK or overpairs and get called all day by worse hands. Because you don't have to worry about the major -EV part of good (not great) hands--i.e. getting stacked for 100-200bb by a great hand--you can push these smaller edges harder. DUCY? If your stack is 40bb, you don't have to worry about pot control and can just get it in when you think you're good.

Also, another source of profit at these games is players who get used to small stacks and suddenly find themselves doubled or tripled up with an 80-150bb stack. They have no idea how to play big pots. If you have a stack, you can manipulate them from position very easily, inflating pots you want to and controlling pots you're wary of.

All considered, I actually <3 short-stacked games like this. Because hen your opponents play incorrectly, you profit. I <3 profit!

[Matt G]

Thanks Any. I tried to implement this today at that game and felt a lot more solid.