Stack Size is Important

The way you play a poker tournament should vary according to your stack size and the particular stage of the tournament in which you happen to be playing. The size of your stack of chips can be classified in three categories: small, medium, and large. The stages of a tournament may be classified as: early, middle, and late. For the purposes of this column, I shall use the most popular type of poker tournament, limit hold'em. The early stage of a tournament will be defined as the first two or three rounds. The middle stage will be defined as the remainder of rounds leading up to the in-the-money tables. The late stage will be the in-the-money tables, normally the last two or three tables of a tournament.

When you start a tournament, everyone has a medium stack, because you all have the same amount of chips. However, as the tournament progresses, your stack size will change in relation to the other players' stacks, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse. I would consider a larger stack to be one of at least twice the size of the average stack at a particular stage of a tournament. The amount of your stack in relation to the big blind is an easy way of determining your stack size. Anything less than 15 times the big blind would be a small stack; 15-30 times the big blind would be a medium stack; and anything over 30 times the big blind would be a large stack. For example, consider the blinds to be $100-$200 with a $200-$400 limit. If you have less than $3,000 (15 X $200), your stack is small. If you have $3,000-$6,000 (15-30 X $200), your stack is medium. If you have more than $6,000 (more than 30 X $200), your stack is large.

In the early stage of a tournament, play a large and a medium stack conservatively. Raise only with premium hands when you are in early or middle positions. You may loosen up your requirements somewhat in late position, but do not attempt any steals with trash hands. If you have a small stack, you must play more aggressively and take chances when you are the first one into a pot. Raise with less than premium hands from all positions. You must gamble and hope to build up your stack. Once you have built your stack back up to at least a medium size, you can start to raise only with higher-quality hands and not gamble as much.

In the middle stage of a tournament, you can play somewhat more aggressively with a large stack. You can now take advantage of the tighter play of the players with smaller stacks. With your large stack, you can steal blinds more easily because the smaller stacks will not want to confront you unless they have premium hands. You can raise with less than premium hands from early or middle positions, and with much lesser hands from late position.

With a medium stack in the middle stage of a tournament, you should start to play more aggressively than you would in the early stage. However, you still should be raising only with quality hands from early or middle positions. You may, however, loosen up your raising requirements from late position. You must steal the blinds an average of at least once every round just to stay even. The tighter play in the middle stage will allow you to steal more blinds. With a small stack in the middle stage, you must raise at every opportunity in order to increase the size of your stack. Either raise aggressively and steal more chips or play like a wimp and get blinded right out of the tournament.

In the late stage of a tournament, you should wield that large stack like a battle ax. Raise at every opportunity with a medium-quality hand from early or middle positions, and with much lesser hands from late position. You want your opponents to fear you. Do not give them an opportunity to breathe easily. Attack! Attack! Attack! With a medium stack, you want to play aggressively, but with better quality hands than you would raise with a large stack. Play selectively aggressive, and watch out for the large stacks. Try to raise just the small stacks, realizing they may have to play if they are short enough. Raise the large stacks only with premium hands. With a small stack, you would again play very aggressively, as you would have done in the earlier stages. Raise! Raise! Raise! Steal! Steal! Steal! Raise any size stack. You must obtain more chips. If you are successful, you will become one of the larger stacks. You will then have a chance to win the tournament. If you are not successful, you will have at least gone out fighting.

Good luck at your next tournament.