Stack Size: Tournaments
There are several stack considerations you should be aware of at all times in a tournament.
*What is your stack compared to the others at your table?
The big stacks can steal more blinds and push around the other players. Small stacks are likely to move all-in with inferior hands in a race to double-up. You want to pick on small stacks if you are big and avoid confrontations with stacks that can cripple you.
*What is your stack compared to the average stack in the tournament?
It is not enough to know where you stand at your table because you are not just playing against your table in a tournament. The stacks at a tight table that is not eliminating any players can quickly fall behind the chipleaders of the tournament.
*What is your stack compared to the blinds?
This is a very important consideration if you are short-stacked. You will hear a lot of conversation about being less than 10X the big blind. Many poker books will tell you that less than ten big blinds makes you a short stack and that you only really have only one move in a no-limit tournament and that is all-in. In a limit tournament, you have more room and more time to maneuver but not much.
There are two important considerations when short-stacked. One is that you never want to get blinded out of a tournament. You must make your stand with something, even if something is a single ace or two high cards. Second, you don’t want to get so short that even your all-in move is such a small amount that the blinds will call you with any two cards.
Chips are your soldiers, you send them into battle; try not to have an army so small that they have no chance and try to enter the final battle too soon rather than too late. Pocket Aces almost never show up in the nick of time.
-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #56
