If there was one, single word of advice I could offer regarding bluffing the short stack, it would be… don’t! That was easy, see you next “TIME.” Anyone who has read my first 160 columns knows that I can’t drop one word and exit stage right. Let’s examine some of the dynamics surrounding the bluffing of a short stack. The first thing we need do is define the environment as to whether it’s a tournament situation or a cash game.
 
Let’s examine cash games first. When players get low on chips they usually do one of two things … reload in order to have adequate ammunition to play the game or resign themselves to attempt rebuilding their meager chip count, resolute not to throw good money after bad. As always, in addition to paying attention to your opponent’s tendencies you should also be monitoring the depth of his stacks along with his frame of mind.
 
If a player is approaching the end of his second rack of chips and you can see he has no intention of buying a third rack, he may well not even care about the value of his last half stack. He may have crossed the line and be past the point of pain or caring about that last half a stack. It’s no longer meaningful to him. Mike Caro coined the phrase “Threshold of Misery” to describe this behavior and it’s as true today as when the Mad Genius first gave it a name. This is not a player whom you should attempt to bluff. On the flip side of the equation … if you have a hand worth value betting, you will be paid off.
 
If you find yourself facing an opponent in a tournament and you are close to the bubble or a next step up the payout ladder, then a different dynamic takes place. We’ve all seen how tight the game becomes when players with short stacks are desperate to earn a payday or to move up the ladder of payouts. These fearful players can be bluffed all day long. Unless they really have the goods, they hope to just slide into a payday and do not have the heart to take any unnecessary risks. This becomes a license to steal for bolder, more deeply--stacked players. Survival of the fittest is what tournaments are all about.
 
The term short stack itself also needs to be examined just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. More sophisticated tournament players use a formula directed at the cost per lap of the blinds and antes and set a number when all-in pushes become their default move. Other, less knowledgeable players just fearfully sit there and allow themselves to be blinded off. You need to determine what type of guidelines your opponent may be using. It’s true in cash games too, and there just aren’t any pat answers to the issues of when to reload, when to get up and leave, and when to tenaciously call all-in in the hope of picking up some chips.
 
So should you bluff the short stack or not? Remember the old poker adage about poker being a game of people and not cards? Our goal for today’s time together is to remember we should consider bluffing the player not the stack! When deciding whether to bluff the short stack always be aware of your opponent’s playing tendencies as well as his current frame of mind … and for the second time in the same column…. See  you next “TIME.”
 
Tom “Time” Leonard has played poker in Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and California for more than 30 years and written about the game since 1994. Contact Tom at thleonard@msn.com.