Competing Short Stacked

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

As you may have noticed or seen countless times if you play poker is that no matter what you do, you will have a short stack at one point or another in your career. Maybe it is simply because you just cannot catch a decent hand. Anyways, an important tool in any professional’s arsenal is knowing how to play a short stack.

Most players will tell you that when you get a short stack, well then it is almost time to throw in the towel. However on the contrary to popular belief this is the time to play your best. Even though you are below average at this point you do have options!

A prime example of this is professional player Jack Strauss who came to win the WSOP Main Event after being down to just one single chip. This is where many believe the poker motto “Just a chip and a chair” came from. So like Jack, instead of giving up there are a few tips that you can use to take your game to the next level even when your 11.5 Gram Poker Chips have seemed to disappear.

Most importantly when you have a short stack is to start with a premium hand. This is simply not the time to be chasing suited connectors. You are looking for hands that are likely premium before the flop and remain strong after the flop as well.

The next thing is to go All In! One of the most powerful weapons you can use while you have little to no poker chips is to bet them all. This lets everyone at the table know you are serious about your hand. Now if everyone folds, great since this should be your main goal. However is someone does call, this is where your decent hand should be strong enough to withstand a shaky board.

Another important fact is to be the first person to act at the pot. It is a lot more intimidating if you go all in first, than if someone raises and then you go all in. In fact this also increases their chances of calling since they might believe you are just making a move.

Most of all you want to avoid the big stacks at the poker table. These are the players that are more likely to call because your small amount of Clay Poker Chips just will not do much damage to their mountain of chips. Instead you want to target other short stacks, and average sized stacks. Other short stacks are looking to find a good hand as well before they push so if they did not find one, which chances are they won’t they will instantly fold their cards. Average sized stacks as well have to be careful with their chips. The will think twice before calling your all in call, simply because they don’t want to lose themselves.

To make your game better, try to adjust your strategy to your chip stack. If you are just below average there is no reason to drastically change your style. On the other hand, if you only have two big blinds left, it is time to widen up your “premium hands” range. The last thing in a tournament that you want to do is ante yourself to death. When you become really low, just about any face card will do the trick.

So the next time you are on a short stack remember this advice. As well think about Jack Strauss, and who knows maybe you make a comeback.

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Give Your Poker Chips A Week Of Luxury

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Have you ever thought about why people oil there Poker Chips? Well if you use your poker chips enough, they begin to accumulate wear. The oiling process renews your chips making them look better and stay in great shape for your home games.

Now before you break out the oil and get to work, you must make sure that your poker chips are genuine clay. If you have a Paulson or other quality chip set that was created using clay molds then you will be doing your poker chips a great service. Clay chips such as the ones in a Paulson chip set absorb the oil providing more strength. However other chips made from plastic or ceramic materials will not get anything out of the oiling process, so you will just be wasting your time.

So now that you have your clay chips spread out on the table, it is time to find the right liquid for the job. You should be reaching for some mineral oil since unlike other oils mineral oil will not “spoil”. As well this will eliminate the possibility of staining the poker chip or having an odor on the clay chips. Nobody wants to invite their friends over and then take out their stinky brown poker chips to play with, especially when it could have been avoided by using the right oil the day before. Most of all stay far away from oils used in cooking! These oils will have the opposite effect on your poker chips and actually harm them.

Now that everything is ready it is time to get our hands dirty. There are two ways you can go about oiling your poker chips. The first method is to place a small amount of oil on a
cloth. Then you simply just rub the oil into the clay chip. When doing this make sure you oil the entire chip. This could take a while, but the chips do dry faster after. The second way to do this is to simply pour the mineral oil into a bucket and dump the poker chips in, letting them soak. This will cover the entire chip but the poker chips will take longer to dry after. The choice is up to you, I mean they are your chips after all.

Ok, now that the poker chips have soaked up all the oil they can handle it is time to dry. But this is also the easiest part of the process. All you have to do is simply wipe the clay chips with a cotton cloth. After this let the chips lay out to dry in a place that is about room temperature. The most important part is to ensure that you flip the chips over after about 60 miutes of drying. As you do this make sure you wipe the face up side of the poker chip to make sure you remove all the excess oil on the chip. Then after about another hour, just wipe the poker chip again and you’re done.

Now the last step is the hardest. You now have to look at your 11.5 Gram Poker Chips and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done!

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