Risk Oriented

Today I'm going to explain three more concepts for short-stack play.

Calling all-in preflop (Continued from my last blog)

Calling all-ins preflop are a function of just two variables: The opponents raising range, and your stack size. If you know these two things, you can define an exact range to call an all-in. Here are these exact ranges, already calculated. If your stack size falls between categories, then you'll have to use a little guesswork to find the appropriate calling range. Print this out and place it next to your computer.

If the SB is shoving 25% of his hands and you are 6BB deep, then you should call with 22+,A2+,KT+,K6s+,QJ+,Q9s+,JTs+. This chart is also found in NLHE Theory and Practice by Sklansky/Miller.

A good HUD, though vital, is pretty easy to implement.

These are the statistics I use on my on-table HUD for common reference:

BB Call / SB Open / 3Bet

Notice that I don't use VPIP or PFR in my HUD. While these are common stats for figuring out a person's range in a ring game, heads-up players are either in position or out of position. Therefore, we can simplify our decision-making regarding ranges by taking the number shown on our hud and entering it directly into our calculations. If the "SB Open" value is "75%" this tells me a lot more about what hands my opponent raises on the button than the equivalent PFR number. Likewise, the BB Call stat tells me the opponent's call-out-of-position range which goes into making decisions while in position on nearly every street.

Multitabling is a very large topic, and I intend to discuss it on a general level as well as specifics like HUD use, and to what extent our play will worsen when we add more tables.

In my opinion, efficient multitabling is a vital skill for increasing hourly. Consider two players with the same intention: a high hourly rate.

The first player, John, intends to do this by paying for high quality coaching, studying videos on a regular basis, and reading forums or talking strategy. John conservatively estimates his winrate to be around 5% at the $100 games. Through our blogging omnipotence, let's assume his greatest potential as a player is to have around a 5% winrate at the $500 games. So, assuming John needs to two-table and watch his opponents, and he plays about 4 games per hour at these stakes, his hourly is very easy to calculate. He earns $5/game and plays 8 games an hour; $40/hr. With enough studying, he will earn $25/game; $200/hr. However, this assumes that he will still play 8 games an hour here, so in practice it will be a bit lower. In addition, to achieve this winrate increase, he will need to spend some time studying and paying money for coaching. His bankroll will grow slowly, but with enough time invested, he will consistently achieve $200/hr.