Up to video#20 in the formula to success series and it's already turning me into a winning player.

However, one thing I'm finding is that short stacks to my left look to push at every opportunity (especially if I've just outplayed them for a juicy pot), so more marginal raises first in seem to loose there value. Should I bite the bullet and call with what appears to ahead of their range, or fold pre-flop and look for a better spot? (or leave for a different table!)

I'm guessing these guys are preying on my instincts not to gamble (and potentially loose what I've just worked hard to win), so I seem to end up folding too much. Is this a common problem?

There is an article in the 2 + 2 archives on dealing with short stacked opponents that I think does an excellent and complete job discussing effective play vs short stacked opponents.

if you search for a post by "Cry Me A River"

Here is the opening line so you know you found the right article, it is lengthy but excellent

"Like the weather, everyone talks about short stackers but nobody does anything about them. This is the thread where you learn not only how to deal with them, but how to crush them."

i dont want to cause any legal issues by copying the entire post here. Sadly, i have lost the link
if you can't find it, e mail me at Dagcox@comcast.net and i can email you a copy

it really helped me a lot

gl hg

Thanks hockeyguy, found it by searching the opening line.

The link for anyone interested is:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78/mi ... cks-17011/

what did you think of the article?

Brilliant article, really takes the fear factor out of dealing with short stackers

Short stacks are pretty easy to play against. It pretty much just becomes a range problem that you can solve with Pokerstove (http://www.pokerstove.com). You aren't going to make much money versus them, but you shouldn't be losing money to them either (they rely on fish who are clueless with their calling range to make money).

If a short-stack 3-bets you, look at their 3-bet percentage. Plug that percentage in pokerstove for player 1 and enter your hand as player 2. Look at the equity you have against that range. Then do a pot odds calculation to determine whether it will be profitable to call the 3-bet.

Keep in mind that a shortstacker will increase his 3-bet percentage if you open on the button (with him in the blinds), and decrease his 3-bet range (often drastically) if you open Under-the-gun. So take into account his position and your position as well, and adjust your perceived 3-bet range for him accordingly.

At low stakes shortstackers are notoriously tight (they'll play like 12/10), in which case you usually can't profitably call without like AQo+, AQs+, and 88+, or something along those lines. As you move up in stakes you will find better shortstackers, and sometimes really aggressive shortstackers who are pretty smart as well. At 5/10nl the shortstackers usually run around 23/21 which makes it a little more interesting - but in the end it's still just a pokerstove range problem that you can definitively solve easily.

I'll go over the calculations in an upcoming video.

Cheers
-Tim/atta22