Gavin Griffin: Poker Questions Asked And AnsweredGriffin Talks About The Early Stages Of Deep Stack Tournaments |
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People in the poker community often come up to me and ask about whatever is on their mind. Some of these questions are good questions, and some are bad beat stories in disguise. I’ve been through quite a few things in my poker career and I like to help whenever possible, and in this new Card Player series, I’d like to share my experiences and knowledge. Feel free to ask any poker-related question, and I’ll do my best to answer it in the space below.
Question: How has the mega stack starting chips changed the psychology and strategy of the game? – Greg O
Gavin: To be quite fair, I don’t think it’s really changed much in the actual strategy of the game except to make the first couple of levels closer to a cash game than they used to be. There are some tougher decisions in the early levels due to extremely deep stacks and you can probably take a couple more hits on coolers than you could have if you started with 100 blinds instead of 300 but once those levels are past, there really isn’t much change in the way tournaments play out. This is why the “Mega Stack” or “
Deep Stack” tournaments are kind of a misnomer. I know I say this often, but I like the philosophy employed by Matt Savage in his tournaments. Give people some chips early but not too many, move the blinds up slowly and incrementally, and bring in antes early. This makes for a more fun and interesting tournament and really makes the late stages more challenging and deeper because of the slow level increases. Most places have at least approximated his structures to both make sure the pace of play is quick enough to finish in the projected amount of time and slow enough to offer the participants some bang for their buck.
Beware the trap of thinking that because you’re given more chips you’re given more play. If you’re looking for the value of the structure, look at the blind increases and length of levels more than the starting stacks. There are some key levels to look for when considering the structure. If a tournament has the 250-500 and 1,200-2,400 blind levels it is probably a very good structure and you’ll get a better shot at having some play late in the tournament than if they were not there.
Question: I find myself in the mid stages of deep-stack, long level tournaments with a stack that is less than impressive. Unless the deck hits me in the face in the early stages (set over set or A-A vs under pair) I usually have close to my original starting stack or less going into the second or third ante level. What are your thoughts on building a stack without relying on pure luck or big risky moves – John T
Gavin: This is kind of a difficult question to attack in a format such as this without having played with you much but there are probably some things you could do to ramp up your early stage play. First of all, find other guys who play like you do and pick on them a bit. Flat or 3-bet their opens when you’re in position with hands that play well against their range (or don’t) and make them work for their chips. Call the flop without much of a hand but with a plan to win the pot on later streets. Turn a hand that you would usually fold the flop with but has some showdown value into a bluff on dry boards.
If you see a pot that nobody else seems to want, take it for yourself. Take a line with some hands that you usually play that takes you out of your comfort zone to feel where the edges of your game are and try to push past them. Only by making yourself uncomfortable can you grow as a player. Of course, you should try to do these things in tournaments that are below your regular buy-in level first so that you’re not just lighting your bankroll on fire in the process of getting uncomfortable. However you get started with it, good luck with being uncomfortable!
If you have a question for Gavin, send it to [email protected].
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