Playing Big Stack Poker

You can find a number of books and interviews out there on the game of poker on just about any topic. However, one of the topics that I do not see nearly as often as I should is Big Stack Poker. Most of the time we hear quite a bit about how to play a Short Stack. I understand the fact that we all need to know simply because we will be short stacked a lot more times that having a ton of chips in front of us. However, us good players do pick up a few chips from time to time and that needs to be discussed too. So here it is.

How I go about playing a large chip stack is contingent on a few things. Those things are as follows:

1. At what point are we in the tournament? (Early, Middle, Late)
2. How large of a stack do I have relative to the Average Stack?
3. How aggressive or passive are the players at my table?

First, I need to be very conscious of what point of the tournament we are in. The play fluctuates at times and you do not want to take unnecessary risks the deeper you go into the poker tournament with a ton of chips. The deeper you get the more valuable those chips become. Early on I want to be involved in as many hands as is reasonably possible to give myself a chance to get lucky with marginal hands. Midway through the tournament I am inclined to take more risk against another big stack because I am making a run at the Final Table. This also applies once I get into the money. Remember, you are playing the poker tournament to win. I want to optimize my chances of getting to the Final Table with a big stack and therefor increase significantly my chances of finishing in the top three where the big money is. Ultimately, when to be aggressive at various stages of the poker tournament is something that you will have to have a feel for.

Second, I want to have almost three times the Average Stack before I really consider myself a Big Stack. A lot of players spend a lot of energy and burn up a lot of chips when in reality they do not have deep enough stack to be involved in so many hands early on and midway through the tournament.

Lastly, you absolutely must be aware of the level of aggression that exists at the table you are sitting at. If you don't have a gauge on that then you are in big trouble. It shouldn't take very long and usually within twenty minutes or so you have a general idea of who the players are. Again, another skill that requires a lot of experience and feel for the game. The more you play the better your feel for the game will become. That's how I do it and I have been pretty successful with it and you will too.