How to Win Poker Satellites – Part 6

Much like playing a big stack, your targets are other medium stacks who you have covered, ideally shoving from the button or small blind when the action folds to you.

Of course, this also means you’re a target for all the other big and medium stacks who have you covered. When facing a shove (or any bet that has you covered or pot-committed) from these players, you’ll need to tighten your calling range to hands that have a serious chance of winning at showdown.

Having fold equity is key here, so you need to make sure you’re the aggressor by shoving all-in with a reasonably wide range of hands from the button and small blind, rather than having to decide whether to call similar moves from your opponents.

Table dynamics also plays a huge part here. Don’t think you have to shove from the small-blind with a marginal holding, when you can see players on other tables are about to be forced in by the blinds.

Poker Satellites: Short-stack Endgame Strategy

Often your only option when short-stacked is shoving all-in and hoping your hand holds up. The ideal target is again the medium-stack who may be reluctant to call and join the short-stacks if he loses, and the time to shove is when you’re in late position and the action has folded to you.

If you’re lucky enough to find yourself in the situation above, then you should shove with any two cards. Why?

Because most of the situations above can be pretty rare to come across in the endgame of a poker satellite. More often than not, you’ll find yourself as a short-stack on the button facing a big stack that will call your shove with virtually anything. Or you’ll find yourself folding marginal hands in the big and small blinds, and end up with a short stack on the button, the blinds going up, and you wake up with 5♣3♠.

There’s nothing much you can do in these situations… other than try to avoid getting into them in the first place, by getting to the endgame with a stack large enough to let you fold your way to the money.

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