Playing A Big Stack In Poker Tournaments

But it is not as simple as that is it? Not when you factor in all the different situations you can find yourself in during a typical online poker tournament because depending on your stack size and that of your opponents, your approach to the game can be completely different. Here we will look at the most favourable situation a tournament player can find themselves in but it is also the least common too, being the big stack.

Having a large stack of chips in a poker tournament is a great situation to be in, your extra little discs give you much more freedom than lesser stacks and they almost give you a licence to help yourself to the chips of others. The main reason for this "bully licence" is the fact you can eliminate opponents from the tournament but they cannot do the same to you.

A common problem many encounter when they find themselves with piles of chips in front of them is to take the bullying too far or to target the wrong players to apply pressure to. When you are sat there with a mountain of chips it is all too easy to come in for a raise every hand and three-bet opening raises at will but remember this; good hands are still good hands and bad ones bad regardless of your stack size. Whilst being a big stack grants you the freedom to be more creative and to play a looser style you still shouldn't really be opening with seven-deuce from under the gun or three-betting the table nit with eight-four offsuit just because you can.

Instead you should apply the pressure to those around you who have the most to lose from clashing with you. As a general rule you should try to avoid getting into unnecessary battles with fellow big stacks as they have the ability to completely turn your situation on its head. That is not to say do not attack them but do so knowing they are, again as a general rule, less likely to be playing back at you without the goods.

Another stack size you should try not to tangle with too often is the short stacks. It can be oh-so tempting to call every all-in from a short-stack simply because you can afford to lose chips if you are wrong but calling several 10-12 big blind shove and losing will see your stack decimated in no time at all. If you are facing an all-in bet from a short-stack then go through the same thought process as you would if you had a lesser stack. Calling off chips with 20% equity usually yields the same results when you have as many as 300 big blinds in front of you or just 30.

So who does that leave? The medium stacks of course. Just like the Goldilocks story told to children all over the world, the middle ones are just right. Medium stacks are often happy at being that medium stacks. They do not want to risk falling into the short-stack category so will be more willing than others to give up their hand when faced with a big stacked opponent. Feel free to three-bet them more lightly than you would other opponents, particularly if they have opened from late position, and put them to the test by raising their bets and generally giving them a hard time! Medium stacks are ripe for the taking around the bubble as most are happy to sit back and try to limp into the money whilst the short-stack often feel they have nothing to lose and will play back at you.

Being in possession of a big stack is the ideal situation to find yourself in when playing a poker tournament and you should always try to get into a position where you hold large amounts of chips in relation to those around you. Once there it is about maintaining your advantage and not just trying to bulldozer everyone out of the way because eventually someone or several people will stand up to the table bully and your big stack will be no more.

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