Tuesday, April 8, 2008

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Do small-stack ninjas ruin the game?

By Martin Östman

Full Tilt's high-stakes Hold'em tables are often occupied by just one recognized player. But sometimes players with small stacks take a shot at beating them.

These players - the small-stack ninjas - enter the game in David-versus-Goliath style. They take a seat, put the minimum buy-in on the line, and try to catch a hand good enough to push all-in with. They hope to throw one stone that takes down the giant and if they do, they usually run for cover.

And they should. The small-stack players have "Gambler's Ruin" against them - a theory stating the player with largest bankroll has the best chance of winning.

Say that you and a friend repeatedly flip a coin for $100. You have $500 to play with and your opponent has $5,000. Although this is a 50-50 game, chances are good you'll eventually go broke. Your bankroll can't handle the swings.

So if a small-stack ninja manages to double up early, just like he planned to, but then decides to stay in the game, he's making a mistake. Often he has to double up once or twice more just to reach the maximum buy-in, and chances are good he goes broke in the process.

Also remember that the one with the big stack usually is a superior player, which also is a reason why the small-stack ninja should leave after his first double-up - or maybe not take a seat in the first place.

Nevertheless, this type of game goes on all the time and it's not particularly exciting to watch. And most observers tend to root for the large stack - the player who wants to play poker rather than win a coin toss and run.

But if you're interested in a quick double-up, this is how it's done:

Full Tilt Poker Game #5950988254 TABLE : Relic (heads-up) $100/$200 - No-Limit Hold'em - Tue Apr 8 2008 - 6:24am (ET)

Table Setup

Seat 1: hardkAre ($5,883)
Seat 2: Urindanger ($20,299.50)
Urindanger posts the small blind of $100
hardkAre posts the big blind of $200
The button is in seat #2

Pre-flop

Urindanger raises to $500
hardkAre has 15 seconds left to act
hardkAre raises to $1,360
Urindanger has 15 seconds left to act
Urindanger raises to $20,299.50, and is all-in
hardkAre calls $4,523, and is all-in
Urindanger shows A Q
hardkAre shows J J
Uncalled bet of $14,416.50 returned to Urindanger

Flop T 6 7

Turn T 6 7 7

River T 6 7 7 K

Urindanger shows a pair of sevens
hardkAre shows two pair, jacks and sevens
hardkAre wins the pot ($11,765.50) with two pair, jacks and sevens

Summary

Total pot $11,766 | Rake $0.50
Board: T 6 7 7 K
Seat 1: hardkAre (big blind) showed J J and won ($11,765.50) with two pair, jacks and sevens
Seat 2: Urindanger (small blind) showed A Q and lost with a pair of sevens

To see more hand histories, and more of the biggest Hold'em pots won online over the last day, week and month, jump over to the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section.

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