Short Stack Question

[Monty9]

Hi all,

I run into this problem once in awhile and more so recently ( 3 times this week). Right now I'm about 50% ITM so my game is pretty good at the moment.

Here's the queston:
Blinds at 100/50, Im short stack w/ about 350 left.
I catch AJ on the button with one caller in EP. I pushed. Blinds folded, EP calls ( he had me covered +2000).
FLOP: A,A,2. Great I just tripled up!..... unfortunatly the board filled out in hearts and he showed 8d, Jh, runner,runner I'm out.

My question is is it better to just call or standard raise to allow for both of us to see the flop. If played that way he might have folded w. the 2 A's. ...or....
is it better to get all my money in while ahead preflop? I was really hoping to just pick up the blinds and Eps limp. I know if I miss the flop I'm dead anyway but is it worth a chance once in awhile?

Thanks

[gabe]

get it allin preflop, always always always always

[a500lbgorilla]

You're being results oriented. When you become that SEVERLY shortstacked, you've gotta push AJ there preflop.

What you DONT want is for too many people to see the flop then you let them pick and choose who calls you.

Also, if you flop JJx with AJ, why the hell would you want anyone to fold!?

-'rilla

[TLR]

With this short stack you have no choice but to push.

[DogOnMySide]

With the blinds at 50/150 you should be looking at all-in or nothing from as high as 700-800 chips.

If you think about it, the big stack doesn't really care what cards he has when you are down to 2x the blinds... but if you are 5x the blinds you can actually do some damage to him if he calls and would probably have taken the pot down.

I appreciate that it's easy to say that but hard to do when AJ is the best hand you've had in ages!

[_KO_]

Push, push, push.

Yeah, you're going to lose some, but from my own personal experience I know that my ITM and ROI percentages jumped big time once I learned this lesson.

[Scuba Chuck]

Hi all,

I run into this problem once in awhile and more so recently ( 3 times this week). Right now I'm about 50% ITM so my game is pretty good at the moment.

Here's the queston:
Blinds at 100/50, Im short stack w/ about 350 left.
I catch AJ on the button with one caller in EP. I pushed. Blinds folded, EP calls ( he had me covered +2000).
FLOP: A,A,2. Great I just tripled up!..... unfortunatly the board filled out in hearts and he showed 8d, Jh, runner,runner I'm out.

My question is is it better to just call or standard raise to allow for both of us to see the flop. If played that way he might have folded w. the 2 A's. ...or....
is it better to get all my money in while ahead preflop? I was really hoping to just pick up the blinds and Eps limp. I know if I miss the flop I'm dead anyway but is it worth a chance once in awhile?

Thanks

Your hand is strong. Your stack is weak. You need to more than double up. Don't give him a reason to fold. From a mathematical standpoint, your hand is still next to worthless even if you double up at this stage. So any strategy that gets as many chips in the middle is best for you. And if you lose, you're just gaining time on your next game. If you're running at 50% ITM, why would you want to prolong starting another game where your odds are better?

PS - the other half of this question leads to the stop n go definition.

[Aquinas]

I'd say it depends...If u are willing to push any flop, I usually prefer a raise followed by a push on the flop. U'd be surprised what people fold when they miss a flop pot odds or no...

[Scuba Chuck]

I'd say it depends...If u are willing to push any flop, I usually prefer a raise followed by a push on the flop. U'd be surprised what people fold when they miss a flop pot odds or no...

LOL, what's the point? FWIW, in this spot, there's only one answer. You don't get a hand this strong. In fact, on average, you only get a hand this strong one every 10 hands. Our hero can't wait around for 10 hands any longer. The time has come. The time is now. Why let villain off the hook?