Basic Short Stacking Strategy Guide- Last updated 1/25/17

Welcome and thanks for trying Automatic Poker!

This guide will walk you through the basic strategy step-by-step. My goal for beginner
system was to design the simplest route to improvement for those new to short stacking.

The charts below will act as your "cheat sheet" to that system. They will show you
exactly what to do in nearly every situation you might encounter, save for a few gray
areas that I will cover in this guide.

I have included an image file of this chart. I suggest integrating it into your desktop for
easy reference while you play. It will make your life a lot easier.

Here is an example screenshot of my desktop.

Feel free to copy my design, which I have found to be very efficient, or come up with
your own custom setup.

Here are a few things that I want you to keep in mind.

1. Everything the chart tells you to do will be +EV nearly every time. It will
immediately strip all of the -EV crap out of anyone's game.
2. Therefore, do not vary from the charts unless I tell you to. They are
mathematically sound and proven to be profitable at micro stakes. (And are likely
profitable higher.)
3. If you are unsure in any situation, take a note and feel free to ask me via email at
automaticpoker@gmail.com.
4. Your goal should be to memorize the chart. As you play, try to think of the
correct play, and then glance at the chart to see if you got it right. Do this on
every hand and you will learn it in no time.
5. The chart will be your fall back strategy going forward. The logic behind it
guides me through "tough" spots, even today.
6. The chart is effective for any stack between 20 and 50 big blinds. Buy in for
whatever your site allows you to, whether it is 20, 30, or 40 big blinds. Leave a
table once your stack exceeds 50 big blinds.
7. The chart is not designed to be used long term, in fact, you should be striving to
memorize it, play a few thousand hands, then move on to the read-based
Intermediate strategy as soon as possible. So please, don't complain to me that
you aren't winning big with the basic strategy. That is not what it's designed for,
it's only supposed to be a introduction to the Automatic Poker strategy, and is
only a starting point. Being a big winner at poker takes patience and time. And,
while my strategy will be one of the simplest and fastest routes to profit, you still
have to put in the work.

To recap. At first, do not get creative. Follow the chart exactly. Just do it. Do not
question it. Memorize it ASAP. If unsure, make your best guess and ask later. Give the
charts a few thousand hands before you judge them. I hope you don't run bad, but it is
possible. Give them a chance over a few thousand hands before you judge them. Here is
my graph in which I recently tested these exact charts.
With that out of the way, let's break down how to use the charts. Here they are again.

On the left hand side is the pre-flop chart. The right hand side is for post-flop. Let's
cover pre-flop first.

Basic Pre-Flop Chart

Step-by-step guide to using the chart:

Step 1: When it's your turn to act, establish the situation and find it on the left hand side.
The possible situations are:
Line 1: The pot is unopened and you decide whether or not to open min raise. If
you see a single hand listed, it includes both suited and unsuited and all hands
greater. For example, X8 is all non-pair hands where the kicker is at least an 8.
This would include K8s+, Q8s+, J8s+, T8s+, 98s, K8o+, Q8o+, J8o+, T8o+, and
98o.
Line 2: Shows you when to limp. Most of your limps will be a complete from the
SB. There will be no limping from any other position except with AK Under The
Gun and the Hijack, where you will go for a limp-raise. You only limp the SB
when someone else has already limped, otherwise you raise, if it is unopened.
Line 3: Shove versus limpers range. Lets you know what range you should shove
over limpers with from each position.
Line 4: 3-bet range vs. non steals. For when someone else has open raised Under
The Gun or from the Hijack and you need to know whether or not to 3-bet shove.
Line 5: Resteal range. 3-bet range when someone else has opened from the
Cutoff, Button, or Small Blind.
Line 6: Covers what range to 4-bet if you get 3-bet after raising. If it is 3-bet
before it gets to you, only cold 4-bet QQ+. (Yes, fold AK.)
Step 2: Once you've figured out the situation, you then continue with the range in the
corresponding box to the right in the correct column based on your position. There are
three columns, each covering two positions. Under The Gun and the Hijack seats are
combined, the Cutoff has it's own column, and the Button and both positions in the
Blinds are combined.

That is it for the pre-flop chart. Hard it believe it's that easy right? Here are some
examples, in case it isn't perfectly clear.

1. It folds to you in the Cutoff and you look down at K7o. Since it is unopened, you
look line 1 and move across to CO and see a range of 55+,A5,X8. That means
you are supposed to open min raise a pair of fives and better, any Ace with a 5
kicker or better, and any hand with an 8 kicker or better. Fold all other hands.
Easy stuff, right? And very easy to memorize. Getting back to the question, since
you hold K7o but need K8 or better, you kick your cards into the muck and move
on to the next hand.
2. You are in the small blind and there are 2 limpers before you act. You look down
at 77. Checking the chart, you first check "SHV VS LIMPERS" to see if you can
profitably shove all in over the top of them. You look to the right in the
"BTN/BLINDS" column and see a range of 88,AQ. Oops, you only have 77. So
you move down one row to see if you can limp. The range for limping in the SB
is 22+,Ax, and X7... so, yes, you can. Oh wait, that's the same exact range you
can open raise from the SB with! How convenient, so easy to remember. (This
was not done by accident.)
3. Here it gets slightly tricky (but not really). The UTG player open raises and you
have 88 on the button. You check line 2 of the chart.. wait which line do I look at?
Is it my position or his??? WTH Jim, so confusing. The chart always refers to
the position you are seated in. You check the chart and the range is 99+, AQ+.
Holy crap, that's tight! So you fold your eights.
4. I don't need a long example for the last thing I need to cover, cold 4-betting. If
someone else 3-bets before it is your turn to act.. only commit QQ+. Yes, throw
those Jacks away. AK? Into the muck. Got it? Okay, good.. we are getting
somewhere.

I'm not going to belabor the point here. If you have any poker background at all, this
should be straightforward. However, if you are unsure or have any questions, don't
hesitate to email me at automaticpoker@gmail.com. Let's continue and look at post-flop
next.
Basic Post-Flop Chart

There are two charts built into one here. You will either be last to act, or not last to act.
In position, or out of position. Just use the top or bottom based on your position. Crystal
clear? Good.
Let's talk about hand strength tiers. Some have trouble with this at first, so here is an
explanation taken directly from my book. If you already own it, this should be second
nature for you.

My approach for assigning specific hole cards to hand strength tiers is based loosely on
the Renton Theorem. The strategy consists of sorting holdings into sub-groups of hand
ranges and playing the hands within each group in a similar manner.

The benefit of playing this way is that it simplifies matters for you and inherently
balances your range. In other words, it makes you much more difficult to read, since you
will sometimes play completely different holdings the same way and other times play
hands that appear to be identical in another way.

Here are the four tiers of post-flop hand ranges:

Tier 1- This is the post-flop "nut" range. Hands that you never fold and would like to get
all-in with. Hand types in this range are two-pair using both cards, three of a kind,
flushes, straights, full houses, and better.
Tier 2- This is your strong non-nut range. It includes top-pair hands with a decent kicker
and big draws.
Tier 3- Showdown value hands. This includes any hand that has a chance of beating an
opponent's air or bluffing range, but is seldom good against a value range.
Tier 4- Air. Hands that have little or no showdown value and little chance of improving
by the river.
Once you have assigned your holding to a tier, it makes planning the hand much easier.
You simply follow the line of play on the chart by tier, given the variables. Keep in mind
that your hand tier is decided on a street-by-street basis. Your hand can be tier 1 on the
flop and tier 2 or 3 by the river. In turn, your hand can be tier 4 on the flop, and then
become tier 1, 2, or 3 by the river.

For example, take the hand AA on a A57 board. You currently have the nuts and
thus have a tier 1 hand. Let's say the turn is a 9. You no longer have the nuts, but your
hand is still strong. It is likely that if you got all-in on the turn that your hand would
frequently be behind, but it is still profitable to do so. Therefore, your hand would now
be tier 2. On a board pairing river, you would once again have a tier 1 hand, but if the
river were another diamond or a 6 or 8, then you would have a tier 3 hand.

I will not get into relative hand strength yet, some of you might already grasp it. You
know that two-pair on a 4 flush board is different than two-pair on a rainbow
disconnected board. For the purposes of the Basic Chart, here is how I want you to
define each tier.

Basic Post-Flop Chart Hand Strength Tiers

Tier 1- Two-pair and better plus huge draws. This includes two-pair, sets, straights,
flushes, open ended straight flush draws, and two over cards with a flush draw.
Tier 2- Top pair decent kicker (9 plus), and 8+ out draws, such as 2 card flush draws, 1
card nut flush draws, open ended straight draws, and two big over cards with a gut shot
straight draw.
Tier 3- Bottom pair, middle pair, and top pair bad kicker.
Tier 4- Air is everything else.

Now, let me discuss this in a way that might make the chart much easier to understand.
For a moment, forget about the post-flop chart completely. I want you to think about this
logically, so that you understand why I chose each line that you will be using. Let's cover
our thought process and general strategy by position and tier.

I will start at tier 4 and work backwards, since higher tier numbers come with a greater
frequency. It's helpful to think of your hand frequencies as a pyramid, with weaker
holdings on the bottom and less frequent holdings on top. You will have air (T4) most of
the time, followed by a small piece of the board (T3) fairly often, with top pair or a good
draw (T2) a bit less often, followed by rare nut hands (T1). A large base of weak hands
with a small amount of hands as you move upwards in strength, just like a pyramid.
Let's first cover what our thought process is in position and then cover out of position
play afterward.

In position post-flop strategy

Tier 4
When acting last, we want to follow a simple one and done system with our air, which
will be what we have most of the time. In a vacuum, a half pot bet only needs to work
33% of the time to break even. We will likely see a success rate in the 42-50% range.
For now, I want you to give up if our opponent doesn't fold and we don't improve. Just
check back the turn and fold to a river bet without a top pair hand or better.

Tier 3
We also want to use our positional advantage to get to showdown more easily with our
weaker made hands. Therefore, our line with tier 3 hands will be to 1/3 pot on the flop,
1/3 pot on the turn, and then check back the river to get to showdown. If we get raised or
led into at anytime, we fold.

Tier 2
We will be using the K.I.S.S method on steroids for tier 2 hands. When someone checks
to you and you look down at top pair decent kicker or an 8-10 out draw, you just shove
all-in. It's profitable, trust me. You wouldn't be folding to a raise anyway, but now there
is no chance of a scare card hitting the turn, and you being lost on what to do. Just stick
it in now, and be amazed at what kind of trash you get called by.

Tier 1
Nutty hands should be played just like tier 3 or 4 hands on the flop. The only variation, is
that you bet 1/2 on the turn instead of 1/3, and you continue betting on the river if called.
However, if the board is really draw heavy, and your hand is vulnerable, just play it like a
tier two and shove the flop. I cover board textures in the portion of my book I am
sending over for those of you who are lost here.
Now let's look at playing out of position.

Out Of Position Post-Flop Strategy

Tier 4
Air hands are straightforward. We just c-bet vs. 1 opponent, and check-fold versus more
than 1 opponent.

Tier 3
Tier 3 is played basically the same as being in position, except we have to act first out of
position. The river is the "tricky" part, but not really. You just need to understand what
common draws completing looks like. The bet sizing and line is the same. You bet 1/3
pot on the flop, 1/3 pot on the turn. The difference is, you can't check back the river
since you aren't in position.

By the way, this is a huge reason being out of position sucks and the only area you really
need to understand board textures. But I will make it simple. If card completing a flush
hits, or the board runs out 4 to a straight, you check fold. If all those obvious draws miss,
you check call. Our opponent will almost always be bluffing often enough to make our
call correct. I don't care how weak your tier 3 hand is.. if they are betting this river, their
range is usually polarized between nut hands and nothing. So your third pair is almost as
valuable as a top pair hand or better. Don't worry, this isn't as complicated as it might
sound. Just keep in mind that check-folding all rivers isn't really a huge mistake, so if
you aren't sure.. folding is fine.

Tier 2

The idea is to take advantage of aggressive online opponents. Most people bet when
checked to with a super wide range, but only call or raise with a very narrow range of
hands. When we have a strong hand, the last thing we want to do is blow them off their
weak hands. So unless we have a read that they are calling super wide, an effective and
simple way to play our hand as a short stack is to check and then shove over any bet.
Easy peazy. No complicated turn decisions this way.

If our opponent or opponents check back, the tiers change a bit. Draws become tier 3 and
should be bet-folded for 1/3 pot. However, with T2 made hands, we still go for a check-
shove. Usually, by the turn, someone will bet.

If it checks through again, we now bet-fold our tier 2 hands (which are top pairs).
Tier 1

Tier 1 hands are played similarly to T2 hands except that they are too valuable to over bet
shove the flop. Instead, we go for a standard bet. If called, however, we play the hand
just like a T2 hand on the turn and go for a check-shove. On the river we bet the hand
exactly the same as we would a bluff and do a 2/3 pot bet.

One final note: Keep in mind that the post flop chart is only for heads up pots. Multi-
way, we don't c-bet bluff our tier 4 (air hands) at all. For now, we just check and give up,
whether in or out of position.

So now that you understand the method behind the madness, let's look at that chart again.

So the general theme for flop play is that, in position, we c-bet all of our hands, either for
value, or as a bluff. Out of position, we bet-fold our air and check-shove most of our
strong made hands.

Turn play is just a continuation of flop play. In position, we bet everything except air.
Out of position, we again check-shove our strong made hands, but now either check-fold
our air, or bet 1/3 pot with our draws and weak made hands and fold if raised.

River play can be a bit complicated, but not really once you learn the logic behind it. In
position is the easiest, we bet our strong made hands and check back our showdown value
or air. Out of position, we bet large with our nut hands and air, bet-fold our medium
strength hands, and check-call our reasonable showdown value hands after draws have
missed. Knowing when to check-call is really the only tricky part... sometimes you will
make some "crazy" calls, but assuming draws have missed (and there were draws in the
first place), the call will be +EV.
Here are a few things that aren't covered completely by the charts.

Playing Ace King In Early Position

You will notice that I want you to limp AK Under The Gun and in the Hijack. This is to
go for a limp-shove. AK is tricky to play post-flop, since you will often miss the board.
Limping and going for a reraise shove eliminates this issue.

Playing Limped Pots Post-Flop

The chart is designed to work on raised pots only. Ranges work a bit differently in
limped pots, as you can expect to see a stronger flop committing range than you would
tend to see in raised pots. Therefore, in limped pots, you need a much more robust hand
to commit.

An easy solution is to treat all your top pair hands as tier 3. Because often, if the money
goes on the flop in a limped pot, top pair will be no good. In summary, use the T3 out of
position lines for limped pots for any piece of the board and draws unless you have two
pair or better or a mega combo draw. In that case, play it like a T2 and go for a check-
shove.

If you are first to act and flop a T3 or T4 hand and are heads up, lead out as per the chart.
In multi-way pots, check-fold.

If you are in the big blind and get led into on the flop, shove all of your T1 hands and fold
T3/T4 hands. If you have a T2 hand it gets a bit tricky, but I tend to min raise-fold in this
situation. This line works great for getting a free card for your draws, with the added
bonus of having great visibility for your top pairs. You can safely fold the flop to a
reraise or check back turns and then call river bets. This situation doesn't happen that
often, so it's not something to be overly concerned with right now.

Cold 4-Betting
If a 3-bet occurs before it is your turn to act, you typically need a very strong range to
continue. Therefore, only cold 4-bet shove QQ+. For you advanced people out there, if
the 3-bet before you was a resteal, you can safely expand that range to AK and JJ+.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it, you made it through the guide!

I'm not going to bother with a quiz, or detailed explanations for post-flop play. It would
take up another 10 pages or so to cover every single situation. For now, I want you to
keep everything generalized and black and white. Keep it simple.

Additionally, keep in mind that this guide is always a work in process. If you spot any
errors or know a way to make it better or more clear, please let me know. I am sure we
can all improve this strategy over time and improve the experience for future generations
of inquisitive poker players.

If you enjoy short stacking, and want to learn to become an elite player, we offer a
coaching program at http://www.automaticpoker.com/online-poker-coaching.html where
we teach you to move beyond the charts and learn to think through and maximize in
every possible situation.

You can also find a similar basic strategy as well as a more advanced one in my best
selling poker book. Search "automatic poker" on Amazon and you'll find it.

We hope to hear from you!

Thanks for reading,

Jim James
automaticpoker@gmail.com
Skype: automaticpoker