I know I may catch some flack with this post but I really do believe that there is something to be gained here. Playing No Limit Hold’em we all end up being short stacked more often than not. Some of us are short stacked more than others. The issue here is that when we are short stacked we obviously need to find a hand and get our chips in the middle. But here is a scenario that I believe a lot of players can play better. It is also one of the few situations in which I actually condone min raising. Yes, I actually said that I condone min-raising.

Shocking huh?

Let’s consider that our prayers have been answered and we have been dealt the Pocket Aces we had hoped for. Now what? Well, most of us would likely push our chips in the middle and pray that they hold up. Taking down the blinds only gives us a small bump to our stack. On the other hand, min raising from early and middle position gives us an opportunity to get our chips in the middle along with the limper’s that are priced in and likely to call. Why min raise? We are min raising because when I am short I want as many chips in the pot as possible. You can plan on the rest of my chips going in the middle after the flop regardless of what kind of board hits.

True, you may get caught by a set every now and then or a flush but that is the risk you must accept with this kind of play. The idea is to give you a legitimate shot at gaining some traction. This play is all about Chip Utility and having enough chips to make moves. If you bust out it’s no big deal but if you can double your stack on one hand it gives you a little room to breath and another opportunity to make a run for the money.

If you are in late position you can play the hand with a min raise with limper’s or you can push if there are just too many people in the pot. It’s up to you as to what you feel is the optimum strategy in playing the hand when you are short.