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Poker Tournament Strategy - How To Play With A Big Stack
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Author: Marc Weinberg
There are a lot of poker players who seem to struggle in tournaments at precisely the moment when you might expect their struggles to be over, namely when they come into possession of a big stack of chips. I'd like to discuss some common errors that big stacks tend to make, as well as some strategies that you should employ when you are a chip leader in a tournament.
This discussion is primarily aimed at multi-table tournaments with a large number of players, and assumes that there is still a lot of work to be done in the poker tournament. I'm not really concerned with big stack play when you are heads-up or down to the final table. I am concerned with how you should play with the chip lead (or close to it) when everyone else is still trying to finish in the money.
Should You Police The Table, Or Lie Low?
When you get the chip lead at your table everyone treats you like you're the USA and they're the Third World. There are times when they grovel at your feet and fold their blinds to you, and then there are other times when they attack you out of the blue and make your life miserable.
You should know this: It isn't your sole responsibility to knock out every player at your table. If there's a race there is no rule that states you need to be in the race. Conversely, if you have a hand you need to play it and bully the rest of the table. Plus, if you sense table weakness you should feel free to go all-in and scoop up the limpers' chips.
Basically it remains a delicate dance, but you shouldn't get sucked into drawing hands at all, and if you play pre-flop you should be very aggressive. You are rich in chips - suited connectors and flush draws are no longer for you. Big pairs and position bets are all you should care about.
Know This: Others Are Scared Of The Stack.
The good part is that players will defer to your bets a lot of the time. The bad news is that if someone decides to play against you their mentality changes and they become prepared to risk all their chips. This point is so important that it is the key to the WHOLE article, and the one piece of advice you should really remember when you next play in a tournament.
Let's say you have the chip lead and put in a tiny raise. The big blind has a small stack. He could either fold, call your small bet, or re-raise all-in. I am telling you that 90% of the time he will not consider the call. He will either fold or go all-in. So if you were raising with a cute hand like JT you now have a tough decision. The stacks that are smaller than you fear you - they know that if they get involved with you it may be their whole tournament, so rather than wait to see what happens they commit early. It happens ALL the time in tournaments.
When you have the big stack you are a very visible target, and a lot of big stack players become loose when they have chips. This encourages small stacks to attack and put you in a race. If you have 15000 chips and the big blind in my example has 4000 chips you might not worry about him, until he moves all-in. Now you face going down to 11000 and improving him to 8000 if you lose. There is little difference between the two of you after that one hand. So don't bait small stacks unless you intend to eliminate them.
Play Tight-Aggressive When You Have Chips
The poker strategy books written by eggheads who have never made real money playing poker at the highest level are right in one regard - you should play tight-aggressive, but only when you have a lot of chips to protect. You should lie low in general, but when you do join the action you play hard and scare the daylights out of your opponents. You should look to steal small pots and avoid big pots, even if you go in with the best hand.
I see online poker players hit the front early in multi-table tournaments and then they fall to pieces. They either stop playing altogether or they get involved in a lot of races, and ultimately they lose two in a row and diminish their position. Some poker players just cannot play from the front. But if you follow my advice you will learn how to manage a big stack and keep it growing. Your play must become slightly more conservative, and the best way to do that is to...
Focus On Medium Stacks When You're Stealing. Avoid Big Stacks and Small Stacks.
You want to steal with a big stack, and players who are in-between in chips, and who have shown you that they don't play a lot of pots, are ideal victims. Don't dance with other big stacks who could cripple you, and only play with small stacks when you are confident of knocking them out, because it will come to that if they decide to go up against you.
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> How To Win In Poker Cash Games
> Ruth Parasol Parlays Poker And Porn Into Billions
> Running Bad - How To Deal With Poker Losses
> How To Lose All Your Chips In No-Limit Hold'em
> World Series Of Poker Main Event Stats and Stories
> The True Odds Of Cracking Pocket Aces
> World Series Of Poker 2005 - Poker Hand Analysis
> Don't Start Out With No-Limit Hold'em - Work Up To It!
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