Tournaments
Short stack in poker
Definition
A stack that is small compared with the blinds, usually below 15 to 20 big blinds.
A short stack has little room to manoeuvre, so its decisions are mostly about when to go all-in. With fewer than about 10 big blinds the game turns into push or fold.
Short stacks are dangerous because they can double up quickly, but they have little fold equity if they wait too long.
Related terms
- Push or foldA strategy for short stacks in which every hand is either shoved all-in or folded, with no calls or small raises.
- M-ratioYour stack divided by the total cost of one orbit (blinds plus antes), showing how many rounds you can survive without playing a hand.
- All-inTo bet all of your remaining chips.
- Chip leaderThe player with the biggest stack at the table or in the whole tournament.