Bovada: the strategies (or lack thereof) of rat holing, hit and runs, and short stacking (1 Viewer)

grebe

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Got your attention? I bet!

So let me preface this with saying this by saying that this ONLY applies to playing on Bovada, where everyone is anonymous and all these things are completely allowed by the rules of the site. Home games and casinos are totally different animals than playing at bovada.

Also, let me point out that this happens constantly on this site. you will see somebody get up a couple buyins and leave, and within a minute you have a new player that buys in short. Like magic. Of course, you cant prove it, because players are anonymous, but it's too much of a coincidence to not be happening. I will also admit, that earlier in the week I short stacked a 1/2 game because I wanted to see how play would differentiate from my normal .10/.25, only to triple up in an orbit and a half and bounce.

So, is there any strategy to these, or is it just risk adverse play from worse players? Also, if you do see upsides to these tactics, would you or do you implement them?
 
Effective stacks are a factor in optimal play. So it could be possible someone has a better edge as 50bb NL50 than 100bb NL25. @Anthony Martino built a career in PLO short stacking

I haven’t done any research on it but I’m sure there are a couple adjustments you can do, and there’s always “if you can’t beat em join em“

How short are the opponents you are facing?
 
Effective stacks are a factor in optimal play. So it could be possible someone has a better edge as 50bb NL50 than 100bb NL25. @Anthony Martino built a career in PLO short stacking

I haven’t done any research on it but I’m sure there are a couple adjustments you can do, and there’s always “if you can’t beat em join em“

How short are the opponents you are facing?

Uh, I didn't build my career short stacking?

If the game is higher limits than I'm rolled for (5/10/25 PLO) or the lineup is unfavorable (deep-stacked overly aggressive players with a positional advantage on me) then I will buy in short and spin it up.

I sat in a 5/10/25 PLO game where the max buyin was 5K and a super aggressive kid a few seats to my left was sitting on 18K and blind-potting it EVERY hand to $300 and then exclaiming "I feel like I'm being trapped!" So in that game I bought in for the minimum $500, lost two of those buyins, tripled up my third buyin, then doubled that new stack and then got the fuck out.

I mean, even if I sat with 5K and I double through the maniac, he still has 13K to my 10K and is going to put me in a lot of difficult spots.

Generally speaking, though, I buyin for the max in most games I sit down in. So $500 at the Tampa Hard Rock 1/2 PLO. 1K in the 1/2/5 unlimited restraddle game at Luckys (although I have in the past bought in for $200 multiple times and spun it up because that game will see restraddles to $80 or sometimes more preflop) and anywhere from 500-2K in the 2/5/10 PLO game at Tampa Hard Rock, depending on the lineup of players and the stacks that are out.
 
Effective stacks are a factor in optimal play. So it could be possible someone has a better edge as 50bb NL50 than 100bb NL25. @Anthony Martino built a career in PLO short stacking

I haven’t done any research on it but I’m sure there are a couple adjustments you can do, and there’s always “if you can’t beat em join em“

How short are the opponents you are facing?
The buyins are 30-100 bb's. So, at a typical nl25 game, you will have 2-4 $7.50 stacks and the rest max $25 buy.
 
Instead of “in my home game we do this” or “if you were at a casino you couldn’t do that” now we have “well they let you do it on Bovada”. That’s some 2020 stuff right there.
 
In my experience, those buying in short are also not very good in general. So it doesn't really matter.
 

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