Being The Final Table Bully

I recently witnessed an interesting hand from a $3,000 buy-in final table that demonstrates how you should use a big stack to push around your opponents. It also shows how you should actively avoid playing big pots as the middle stack against the big stack when there are numerous shallow stacks at the final table.

The stacks at the final table were:
• Hijack: 50 bbs
• Cutoff: 15 bbs
• Button: 80 bbs
• Small Blind: 20 bbs
• Big Blind: 30 bbs

The player in the hijack, who happened to be one of the best players in the world, raised to two big blinds out of his 50-big blind stack with A-Q offsuit.
A-Q is a perfectly fine hand that should be raised in all normal circumstances. Folding it, fearing aggression from the big stack or an all-in from a short stack (which A-Q would call), would be way too weak and tight.
The cutoff folded and the generally loose, aggressive big stack on the button three-bet to seven big blinds with K♥ 5♥.
This is a great spot to three-bet with a wide range including many bluffs because the initial raiser has to make a point to not go broke before the three short stacks. As the big stack, you should actively look to apply immense pressure to the middle stacks who have an extra incentive to avoid going broke due to the payout structure.
The best hands to three-bet with as a bluff are the hands that are not quite good enough to call that also contain an ace, king, or queen blocker.
When you have a blocker in your hand, it makes it more difficult for your opponent to have a premium hand due to there being one fewer strong card available. While K-5 suited is nowhere near good enough to call, it is a fine choice to use as a bluff due to the distribution of the stacks and the blocker.
Everyone folded back to the initial raiser who thought for a bit and then folded.
This fold initially seemed quite tight to me, but after thinking it through and running it through an ICM calculator, it makes sense.
If the hijack calls, the pot will be about 16 big blinds with 43 big blinds remaining in the stacks. This means that if the big stack makes reasonable bets on the flop, turn, and river, all the money will be in the pot.
Even if the flop comes ace or queen high, the hijack cannot be thrilled to put all his money in because he could easily be crushed by a premium made hand.
The hijack could opt to four-bet small with A-Q as a bluff (and A-A and A-K suited for value), but that is not necessary, especially if the short stacks are playing pots and somewhat likely to go broke in the near future. Sometimes it makes sense to take the cautious approach and move up the payout ladder.
So, when you are at the final table as the big stack, look to apply pressure, and as the middle stack, look to avoid playing big pots.
If you want to apply more pressure to your opponents, you need to know how and when to bluff. I created a simple flowchart to help you bluff like a pro. This flowchart has 11 questions you should always ask yourself when deciding if you should bluff. I also recorded a short video that shows you how to use this flowchart by going through two hand examples!
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Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT winner and the 2024 PokerGO Cup champion with nearly $9 million in live tournament earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality of the Year. If you want to increase your poker skills and learn to crush the games, check out his training site at PokerCoaching.com/CardPlayer.