Small Stacking My Way to Victory, Part 1: Setup

I’ve got about $100 on Carbon poker, and I’m looking to spin it up. The sit and go’s on this site aren’t very consistent, and though I do like to dabble in their small-field, incredibly soft MTTs, I’m underrolled at the moment, so I’m looking to grind my way up through their soft cash games as well. Unfortunately, the cheapest cash games they offer are 10NL. So I’m going to have to short stack my way to victory.

I’m breaking away from the reddit cult of “100+ BB buy-in for cash or GTFO”, at least for the time being, when my bankroll on Carbon can support full buy-ins. I’m using this blog the communicate my strategies and do hand history reviews.

My Strategy

Where I live, the smallest live cash games available at casinos are $1/$3, and I typically buy in to those with $200, and I've done decently with those in my time (unfortunately I haven't tracked my winnings but I think that I'm at least break even). 

So carrying over those skills to online short stack play should be easy right? Fortunately the cash games, at least at 10NL, on Carbon play a lot like live poker: lots of weak passive players, limped pots, many fit-or-fold players, the occasional whale, and calling stations. 

Minimum buy-in is 30BB; however, I prefer 40BB. It's set as the default on Carbon, so most other short stackers are buying in for the same. It provides a bit more fold equity and a little more play post-flop. This gives me around 25 buy-ins to work with.

Typical short stack strategy involves playing only strong pairs or broadway cards, and avoiding small pocket pairs, weak suited aces, and suited connectors, because the implied odds for these types of hands require a larger stack to be +EV. For the most part, I will be adhering to this rule, but due to the weak nature of the 10NL population, it appears I can get away with more bluffs, so I will play these hands with a greater frequency than recommended.

Rabbit holing, cashing out a stack after doubling or tripling up, is often recommended when you are under-rolled, however, many times there will only be one or two tables of 10NL running at a time, and Carbon's "etiquette " rule requires you to buy-in with the same amount you've cashed out for, with a cooldown of approximately 30 minutes. Therefore I can't go with the typical strategy here either. My adjustment will be to have cash sessions for approximately an hour, take a break to cash out if I'm above $10, and come back with another $4 buy-in.

I play on mobile, but I also have a PC setup with Holdem Manager 2 that I use when I have access to it. Because of the small player pool, it's incredibly useful to track player stats.