When we have a short stack, our fold
equity is often more valuable to us than our post-flop equity. Shoving pre with 99 or A8s is often the best move when under 20bb or certainly under 10bb.
When a short stack tries to play pre, we have them ouststacked 5 to 1, 6 to 1, 8 to 1 or more etc, we can consider putting Villain all-in with a moderate hand provided that we are confident of getting isolation.
When we are short-stacked with a moderate jam hand like 66 or A4s, etc, we want to be mindful of position before jamming. We really want to be on the blinds (or maybe the BT in a 9-ring game) so that we can see the action before we commit to pulling the trigger. If we shove A4s from UtG we're only going to get called by dominating hands (like AK, AT, etc). However if we are on the BB and see 2 limps and a bunch of folds, A4s is very good against 2 weak Villains. We could easily steal, and if we do get called, Villain doesn't have much Ax in a capped limp-call range, so our A4s is very likely ahead.
Of course we give up post-flop position by playing from the blinds, but if we are shoving pre, post-flop position is irrelevant (there will be no post-flop action). ; ) So the blinds are perfect for us to watch all of the pre-flop action before we commit our jam.
If there are 3 or 4 or 5 limpers, just fold because our middling hand likely won't win a multiway pot. Absolute maximum that we want is 2 Villains calling our shove.
If someone opens before us, just fold because they have a hand that easily competes with our middler and very likely is ahead of it.
But if we have 9bb on the SB and a A-rag or a low pocket pair and we see 1 or 2 limpers only, let it rip!
