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TIPS FROM THE PROS
Mark Vos
July 24, 2006
A couple of weeks back, I won the $2,000
No-Limit Hold 'em event at the World Series
of Poker. It's a great honor to have the
bracelet. The $800,000 that I got for first
place is, of course, awesome. For most of
the tournament, I was short stacked. But, I
think I played my short stack well and, for
this tip, I thought I'd share some thoughts
I have on short-stack play.
The key to my short-stack survival was
that I was able to steal enough pots to stay
alive. There was only one play I could use;
move in, and hope everyone folded. It worked
out for me, despite the fact I was card dead
most of the day.
There were a couple of reasons my steals
were effective. First was that I was careful
not to let my stack fall below seven or
eight big blinds. In No-Limit tournaments,
it's very important to do your stealing when
you have at least eight to 10 big blinds. If
the average stack is between 20 and 25 big
blinds, which is common in the later stages
of tournaments, and you move all-in for
eight or more big blinds, only very strong
hands are going to call you. Your opponents
won't want to risk becoming a short stack by
losing a confrontation, so there's a
tremendous amount of fold equity.
If your stack drops to the point where
you only have five or six big blinds, you're
far more likely to get called. So you need
to be very aware of the size of your stack
and the location of the button. If you're
sitting on eight big blinds and you're in
middle position, you should look for a
chance to push in and steal before you move
through the blinds.
While you're on the short stack, you also
want to have a tight image. You want
everyone to think you're patiently waiting
for a strong hand. If you give off this
impression, you are going to get a lot of
respect, which should increase the
likelihood that your opponents will fold
when you move in.
When I'm on the short stack, I don't mind
moving in from early position, even when I'm
under-the-gun. I did this frequently in the
WSOP tournament I won, even when I was
holding rags. It worked out well. I had a
tight image, so an early position move
looked very strong. Unless someone picked up
a hand like pocket Queens or Kings, I was
likely to pick up the all-important blinds
and antes.
When you're on a short stack, you need to
stay alive while you wait for decent cards.
The key is to find situations where your
opponents are likely to fold. If you keep
your stack over eight big blinds, create a
tight image, and move in from a variety of
positions, you have a good chance of
stealing enough pots to stay alive in the
tournament. Hopefully, things will go your
way and you'll pick up some hands so that
you can build your stack up and take out the
tournament!
Mark Vos
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