Facing a short stack all in

When playing in tournament poker there will frequently be a situation when a short stack goes all-in and sees two or more callers. A standard practice here is for the players who called the all-in to check the hand down in order to increase their chances of eliminating the all-in player. However, checking the hand down may not always be the smart move. The strategy of checking the hand down has one huge weakness: it depends on the cooperation of the other player. If the other player does not cooperate, you can find yourself folding your hand to a strong bet, only to see the all-in player win the pot with a hand you could’ve beaten had you stayed in.
How do you react to a bet in that situation. Assuming your chip stack and the bettors chip stack is equivelant and he is a TAG

[pastieman]

I will check it down till I got the nutz and then I'll bet, I will not bluff at a pot that has no value, now if the other checker want's to get invovled in a side pot so be it. My rule is check it down unless you got the nutz hand to take out the all inner.

[villarge]

I take the same approach mostly as Pastie. If I am very confident that I have the other caller beaten I might bet, otherwise I will check it down.

In bounty games I sometimes change this strategy, thinking that the chance of taking someone out has more value and might even be worth the risk of allowing the short stack to double up.

Adam

[pastieman]

Agreed Adam, bounty games are a different situation, more callers to a short stack all in. Now I would be betting in a side pot.... holding the nutz

[dan]

I check down unless i have a hand that I feel is favorite. A lot of times a player will bluff you out of the pot and have nothing. Your hand would have won but instead the shortstack wins and is back in the tournament. This happenes in regular and bounty tourneys more so in sit and goes. Annoying when you would have nocked shotrstack out and then you get nocked out by same shortstack because of other players misplay. Nice first article.

If its towards the end of the tournament, I'll basically always just check it down without the nuts, but if its early on and I feel like I have the all-in guy beat, I'll bet at it, especially if the all-in guy just lost a huge pot for nearly all his chips the hand before and figures he is basically out and I have a decent hand. This situation has worked out well for me a few times though when I'm checking it down with a pretty poor player that decides to take a stab at it when I've got the nuts, usually when they stab its for a good portion of there chip stack and I know i've got them beat.
cheers,
Chad

[Wakou222]

There are though situations when it is to your advantage that the SS stays IN the tourney, even to double him up at your own expense can be ++EV.
For instance, if you are in the top 3 in a pays 20 tourney. There are 22 left, two desperate shorties and six or seven players hanging on for dear life with about 3 or 4 M. In this scenario, keeping the ultra shorties in is good for you as you can chip away at the guys in the range 10th-18th say, who will be very reluctant to defend their blinds or call a bet with anything but a monster, and even might be folding AA KK if the money bubble is a worthwhile sum. This gives you an easy source of chips whilst the bubble is yet to burst.
I agree though that in Double or Nothing or FPO tourneys, EVERYONE who can afford to should call the SS, and check down. Even if SS has found AA, with eight opponents he is only about 20% (??? pure guess, mebbe some maths gurus can do better), and everyone wins. It drives me MENTAL when someone raises in this situation, and just as bad when a big stack player DOES NOT CALL. Even if he has 7 2 off suit, he is only risking a small % of his chips, and not materially jeapordising his pay-out. It is kind of like doing a "community service" to call in this situation.

[underdog128]

It all depends on the situation.I sometime will take a shot at a pot in this situation but all depends on what the flop is and how much is in the middle allready and what type off player is the person that is already all in.Allot off things to take into consideration.

Originally Posted by Wakou222

There are though situations when it is to your advantage that the SS stays IN the tourney, even to double him up at your own expense can be ++EV.
For instance, if you are in the top 3 in a pays 20 tourney. There are 22 left, two desperate shorties and six or seven players hanging on for dear life with about 3 or 4 M. In this scenario, keeping the ultra shorties in is good for you as you can chip away at the guys in the range 10th-18th say, who will be very reluctant to defend their blinds or call a bet with anything but a monster, and even might be folding AA KK if the money bubble is a worthwhile sum. This gives you an easy source of chips whilst the bubble is yet to burst.

I posted about this kind of behavior in another thread. You can see that frequently.

But there are another reason to bet without the nuts: try to win a pot that easly could be an important % of your stack.
If you are playing for be ITM, then the check/check move is the right one, but if you want some extra chips trying to reach the FT, then probably with a bet (even with a second pair) you can isolate the SS and win a pot that you could lost against another player in the hand hitting a lucky tiver. Yes, you still could lost against the SS and need to fight to be ITM, but remember that this isn't your primary goal in this scenario.

[illphillllllll]

if i feel i have the best hand i will bet into the pot. with a great hand i will minimum bet or value bet. if i have top pair or something half decent i will usually try to take the pot down there. i don't worry about the short stack staying in i just play my game. maybe i'm in the wrong, but i will never bluff at the pot.