I have done a fair bit of reading around about short stack strategy.

By far the majority view seems to be that short stacking is a bad strategy. I think this is wrong, and the reason is a factor that is not considered in many of these discussions: bonuses.

In many poker rooms, earning points towards bonuses requires a minimum rake. This makes many micro stake tables very slow going in terms of earning bonuses - the only way to earn a bonus at a decent rate is to play at a higher level (e.g $25 or $50 NLH). But it would be suicide to play those tables for a full buyin if your bankroll is small (say a few hundred). The solution is to short stack and play tight.

If you choose the right tables in the right poker rooms, can even cover your blinds with the bonus. This is the perfect situation, since you are seeing cards for free - you can play as tight as you like and be virtually guaranteed a positive return.

I have read opinions that short stacking does not really reduce variance since you are forced to go all-in more often on a coin flip. This is not borne out by my experience, but I would be interested in other people's views. On the whole I would much rather be all-in as a 60-40 favourite with 5% of my bankroll than with 50% of my bankroll as a 70-30 favourite

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it's not a bad strategy it's just most people do it wrong. i've got a short stacker at nl25 at redkings down $50 which is just ridiculous. he has no idea what he's doing and from what i gather he's got a hand chart and is just open pushing/calling with top 20% of hands.

define short stacking... 10 or 20bbs?

also you're going to have a hard time clearing bonus when your max pot is giong to be 40bbs etc. you'll have to megatable + rathole and most low traffic sites wont make this possible.

just play poker properly.

That's nuts.
Started at 10, but 20 is better. I'll still do 10 at a higher limit if the table is so juicy that I don't care about my stack and just want the bonus points.

I'm currently playing at Tower, where I only had 30 days to cash out the bonus (all or nothing) and I was just way behind playing .15/.3 and .25/.5 Limit. I started short stacking iNL25 ntending to basically buy points with my blinds (playing very tight and trying to double through with big pairs) - but I actually found that the poker was profitable too.

At Tower, I just wouldn't have been able to cash the bonus at the lower levels - which would have been a whole lot of wasted effort. The bonus started to clear very quickly when I started playing tight on maniac tables, and I was still consistently paid off when I hit decent hands.
Once this bonus is cleared, I probably will. I'll find a 60 day or 90 day bonus where there is less pressure.

__________________
How far can you go in online poker starting with $0 and a brain?
http://raisingtheriver.blogspot.com