This is a very different kind of Thanks For Not Stacking Me, Bro! post. In this case, the villain's decision to not stack me came before the hand even started.
For most good cash game players, one of the major annoyances of most internet cash games is the proliferation of shortstackers, also known as ratholers. These asshats have no idea how to play poker. They may have come over to cash games after playing a few donk-n-go's. But their plan is basically to push premium hands, and maybe re-steal with some hands that run well hot and cold, such as A8o, etc.. If you're familiar with short stack tourney play, then you know roughly what these guys are doing. With a decent plan of attack, these nimrods can eke out a meager win rate and pile up the rakeback by playing 389 tables at once with their robotic (perhaps literally) style. If you're a good player playing with 100 bbs or more, this really limits you. When you try to steal or isolate a limping donk, you always have to worry about having the shorty shove over the top of you. This makes stealing or isolating with high implied odds hands like suited connectors much less profitable. You also can't use your post-flop skills against them, because they're either putting all their money in preflop or on the flop. There's just not enough room for multi-street lines.
The only time I'm glad I'm at the table with a shorty is when they cooler me and I only lose 20 bbs. Classic case:
Seat 1: HERO (MP2) ($200)
Seat 9: Ratholer (MP1) ($41.80)
*** HOLE CARDS **
Dealt to HERO [Kh Ah]
Ratholer calls $2
HERO raises to $10
Ratholer calls $8
** FLOP ** [4s Kc 5d]
Ratholer checks
HERO bets $12
Ratholer raises to $31.80, and is all in
HERO calls $19.80
Ratholer shows [4d 4h]
HERO shows [Kh Ah]
*** TURN ** [4s Kc 5d] [Ts]
*** RIVER ** [4s Kc 5d Ts] [9s]
Ratholer wins the pot ($83.60) with three of a kind, Fours
The fact that this guy would limp-call 25% of his stack to set-mine is just hilarious. This is approximately 5x worse than calling a 3-bet to set-mine. This guy is obviously not a good shortstacker. I don't mind having him to my right, although it's not my favorite thing in the world. If he were to my left, certainly if he were a good short-stacker and to my left, I'd probably leave the table pretty soon.
My pre-flop raise is standard. On the flop, I usually like to c-bet a little smaller against the ratholers, for a couple of reasons. First, I want to induce a shove from some hand like 88 or A4s. Second, I don't have to protect against giving high implied odds because the effective stacks are so short. Say this were a drawier board like if the 4 were a diamond instead of a spade. Put aside for the moment the fact that diamonds never get there. If my opponent were full-stacked, I'd want to put in a good-sized bet to make him pay to draw to diamonds or a straight, since he stands to win a lot of money if he hits. Here, once I bet, the pot is already as big as the amount the villain has left, so I don't have to worry about the shorty hitting a draw and pwning me for 100 bbs. Once he shoves, I'm obviously calling with TPTK, even though it is hearts and hearts lose almost every time.
The final part of the hand is that he left once the big blind got to him again. Another classic ratholer move. Once they get above 20 bbs, their head explodes because they might have to make some kind of decision after the flop, so they just leave and find another table to buy in for 20 bbs at.
It should be clear from this post that I hate playing with these guys, I have absolutely zero respect for them, I think they ruin the game, they have no idea how to play poker, and are basically a waste of skin. I try to play the Full Tilt deep tables as often as I can, which require a minimum buy-in of 50 bbs. But when I lose only 20 bbs with TPTK to a set, I'm willing to just laugh at them.
-BRUECHIPS
P.S. - Also want to give a big shout out and gl to Andrew Brokos (Foucault), who is making a run in the Main Event as I am typing this. It would be really awesome to see him get to the final table. Those of you who follow his blog know what a great player he is. Pwn it, Andrew!!!
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