Chip Position in Tournament Play
Having chip position is another important strategy in tournament play. You need to know how you stack up against your opposition and what controls or lack there of you have. To do this take the number of players divided by the total number of chips in the game. If you are above this number …great you are above the average player in the field….if not than you have some work to do and might need to loosen up your game.
So where do you fall into place in tournaments? The big stacks have a lead and can easily dominate over others at the table. They have the chips to call with a wider range in hands and can take you out with out hesitation, where as small stacks have to wait and hope that the hand they need comes quickly. Your object, when you are the short stack is to sit and wait. Don’t call out war with the chip leader and think they will fold…it is best to avoid them as long as possible.
The only move you are going to be able to make at this point is pushing all in and in all honesty steal some blinds. Think of it this way, it is better to steal a few uncontested pots than lose going after one big one. This perspective all boils down to where you are in the tournament and usually falls into play near the bubble. But if you are able to steal even one pot each round…that gives you one BB and one SB free, leaving you with another round at the table to go before you need to put blinds in again.
Small Stack
A small stack is considered anyone who has less than four times the big blind in limit or six times the big blind in no limit. Small stacks have to really pay attention to everything that goes on around them. You need to watch the clock for blind increases to way out how many blinds you have now and how many more you will have during level increase. You need to watch your opponents and those who have less chips than you or in your range. They will be making the same moves as you.
You have to play position. This isn’t even a need it is a must…making an all in move in early position will increase the odds that you are going to get called. Some hands you want to get called but it would be better to gain a few chips if your on the bubble. Playing position in relation to your chips and the bubble all comes down to what you want. Do you want to advance to the pay spots or do you want to risk your time and money to fall short?
Chip Leader
This is of course what everyone’s goal is. Taking the lead and all control over your opponents while maintaining a top rank in hopes of cashing. Chip leaders are quite frankly bullies. They can be aggressive, domineering and in some cases will call you with poor hands because they can. You need to keep that in the back of your head when fighting with the giants at your table. They will call because they can! Losing to you will by no means diminish or even put a damper on their chips. Now this is not to say that I am advising those who are in this prominent position to do this. Greed is not necessary, but a chip leader will make you think before you act.
So in short, many players use table position for tournament strategy and chip position is just as important to finalizing your place in the payouts if not the final table. Your surroundings are key to your game and can either make it or break it if it’s overlooked.
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