Need help playing a big stack (long)

I've been playing quite a few online NLHE torneys at ultimate bet, and my results are pretty good so far.

My biggest problem is that i sometimes play a bit passive and often end up in the money (top 3) very short on chips. However, if i manage to get heads up with at least 25-30% of the chips, my record shows that i win about 65-70% of the times, wich i believe is pretty good. However, the few times i have gotten heads-up with the chip lead, i have lost 3 out of 4 times...


Yesterday i played in a $10+1 buy-in tourney and got a very good run of cards to start with. Within the first 5 or 6 hands i busted 2 guys and got my stack up from the original 5k to a bit over 15k.


This situation is very unusual for me as i normaly hang on by my fingertips during the early and middle stages. Anyhow, suddenly i seemed to make everything right, buying pots here and there and busting people to the left and right. When it got heads-up i had 45k of the 50k in play and was looking for an easy win. But instead of winning in a few hands, i began playing worse than anyone has ever played heads-up before.


First hand i'm on the BB with 82s, SB pushes all in and i have to call something like 2500 out of my 45k stack, i muck... next hand i fold in the SB... Hand 3 he pushes all-in and i muck again. Hand 4 i call (how smart was that?) from the SB, he pushes in and i fold... He kept pushing in from the SB on every hand and i folded all of my hands except for a few times when i stole his BB.


He actually had a slight chip lead at one time and i was playing weaker than ever, but i did manage to steal his blind a few times to take back the chip lead. This is where i slapped myself in the face and said "Nusseman you play like an old lady, get a grip!"


Next hand i pick up KJo and call (told you i played like an idiot) from the SB. BB checks and the flop is something like Axx. I check BB bets a small amount, i call... Turn T (i think) and i check again. BB bets a good sized bet (leaving him something like 14k). I finally decide it's time to take a stand. Considering the way i played so far, he has to think i don't bet with anything but the nuts. I pushed all-in and after thinking for a while he mucked. I showed my cards and said "I had to put my foot down..." to try and take back the momentum. After that i won the tourney in abut 6 or 7 hands.


As you can see i'm in desperate need for some advice on how to play heads-up with more chips than my opponent. I know i'm the one who is supposed to push the small stack around, but after the first three hands i just lost it and played worse and worse.

Also, any tips on a good "stackbuilding" strategy for the middle stages are welcome.


/Nusseman

Just remind yourself that when heads-up, more often than not nobody has much of a hand.


Also, on that first hand with 82o, you said you had to call 2500, but you didn't say how much was in the pot. It sounds like there should have been 7500. You said he had 5K, so it would sound like he went in for all of it, and you already had 2500 in.


If you're getting 3:1 and he's all-in, you should call with ANY 2 cards. Really.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

I know... after mucking this hand and the next, i suddenly realized i was an idiot not calling that small bet. Thinking like that made me play even worse and it almost cost me the tourney.


Obviously i got sort of confused, having such a huge chip lead and not knowing what to do with it. This made me play far worse than my usual game.


Let me ask you a few specific questions:


1. Given the way he played, would i be correct to put him all-in before the flop on every hand until either i win or he catches up with me?


2. If not, how close to me would i let him get before changing strategy?


3. let's say he builds his stack to T18000, leaving me with T32000 and he still pushes in or folds from the SB, with what type of hands hands do i call? (blinds T1500/T3000)


As we only played the last hand to showdown, i can't provide any info as to what hands he mucked or raised. But given the fact he didn't muck very often (and the way i played) he probably raised with hands worse than the 82s i should have called with in the first hand...


Sorry if these questions come across as stupid, but i am trying ty learn and you seem to have a lot of tournament knowledge to share.


/Nusseman

You have to figure out what range of hands he's playing (which in this case might have been every hand), and play your hands accordingly.


If he raises all-in to 18,000 and you've posted a 3,000 blind, you're getting 21:15 or 7:5 on the call. If he's raising with ANY hand, then you can call with all but the very worst.


Wait, I just checked my pot equity list. Here are hands that don't own at least 5/12th of the pot against a random hand.

86o

76o

65o

54o

43o

32o

These also include worse hands, so 86o includes 85o, 84o, etc.


Not very many, and this is when you're only getting 7:5 on the call. When you're getting 7:3 or better, even 32o is a call.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)