anyone do a lot better deep in a tourney with a small stack?

[NLfool]

in 10 multi's I've played 2 of them I went to the last 3 tables with a top ten chip count. Went a little too conserv as 1 time the big stack was left of me and another I got caught on a steal with J2 so I had to hunker down. 2 times I went in with a real low stack and went in super agg mode. Lucky my Q10 held up and A high held up a couple of times and my 77's held up back to back. Got lots of action later on and ended up 2nd and 5th after being a low stack. Being a mid/high stack I only made it to the final table with a real low stack and was just trying to play not to loose and just trying to creep up spots.

[CrisBrown]

Hi biggestfish,

You've found a leak in your game: playing a big stack late in a tournament. Congratulations. Now you know an area where you can study and practice and improve.

In general, as a big stack, my goal is to make three steals per two orbits of the table, so I'm gaining a little on the blinds each time. In general, I look to steal with big cards from early position, and with medium and smaller pairs and suited connectors from late position. I don't like to steal with a medium or small pair or a suited connector from early position as I'm probably not going to like having a caller and seeing a flop. With big cards from early position, I'll probably hit more flops than I miss, and pick up the call money from people who called with medium and small pairs and missed their sets.

If it's passed around to me in the small blind, I am going to steal-raise more often than not, and with almost any two cards. As a big stack, I worry people (even the other chip leaders), so they're reluctant to resteal unless they have a real hand. So more often than not, I'll steal the blinds and the big blind player will mutter that he's going to get me someday.

You don't want to get into showdowns except with the small stacks. If a big stack makes a steal raise and you have a medium or small pair, or a weak Ace, lay it down more often than not. Why get into a tangle with the few players who can really knock you down or even out? Instead, pick on the smaller stacks, especially if they make the mistake of limping (as small stacks are prone to do), and only tangle with the big stacks if you have a monster hand.

Finally, as a general rule, if I'm the chip leader, I don't like to call edgy all-ins with anyone where the call would knock me down to middle position. If I have T8800 with my opponents at T6500, T5000, T4200, T1500, and T1000, I would call an edgy all-in from the shortest two stacks, but not from the middle stacks unless I was sure I had the dominant hand.

I hope this helps. It seems to work for me. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cris

[Che]

[ QUOTE ]
my goal is to make three steals per two orbits of the table

[/ QUOTE ]

I really appreciate this post, Cris, especially the 3/2 advice. I've always known that big stacks are supposed to steal the blinds "a lot" but I've never had a solid benchmark for judging my play. I'll keep this in mind if I'm ever a big stack again. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

If you don't mind, I would like a clarification on one point in the post...

[ QUOTE ]
With big cards from early position, I'll probably hit more flops than I miss, and pick up the call money from people who called with medium and small pairs and missed their sets.


[/ QUOTE ]

As I understand it, the flop will only "hit" your hand about 1/3 of the time, so what do you mean by "hit more flops than I miss"? I'm guessing you mean that you will hit TPTK alot, and even when you don't, you can still take the pot down often since you're opponents will usually fold to a pot-sized bet unless the pot hit them (and it usually won't, of course, especially if they're trying to spike sets as you mentioned). I'd be interested in knowing if this is what you meant or if you had something else in mind.

Thanks,
Che

[CrisBrown]

Hi Che,

Yes, that's what I meant. These are all people who've watched me play tight for most of the tournament, so when I bluff at a pot, they usually give me credit for a hand. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cris