Big Stack Poker

[DaculaJones]

Fold Equity.
A powerful tool from the big stack.
You have leverage on everyone at the table.
Pick your places, and be strong pre-flop.
Limping days are over.
With position or strong cards out of position (ie Blinds) push the limpers out.
Push at any sign of weakness. And limping in for most players, not all players, is a big sign.
You have enough chips to lay down a hand you don't want to play if you do get re-raised.
IMO.....The object is to never show your hand until you have to in an all-in showdown.
And you want to always know you are ahead when you have to show.
Or at least a strong race. 2 overcards or a pair against 2 overcards.

Your experience will teach you what to expect from players vs. their chip stack.
Stack size vs. the blinds will help you determine how desperate the smaller stacks will act.
The smaller the ratio, the better the chance they will not have a big hand when they do push.

[DaculaJones]

Joe.....Our hand last Saturday was a great example.
And maybe the cause of this thread.
You had K-J or Q-J from the BB?
It was folded to me on the Button. I limp and John limps from the SB.
You have to put me on A-crap or K-crap or connectors or bull from the button.
Anything stronger, and I'm raising from the Button.
So you missed a bet and then trapped yourself when you flopped top pair.

So the time was pre-flop to test me.
It would have cost you less chips
and you probubly would have taken down the pot with out a flop and without showing your hand.

[joelarbear]

To some extent, you're right. That hand was part of the reason for this thread. The biggest reason, however is that I have never considered myself a good big stack player. Well, the quickest way to learn this part of the game is to ask the people who's games I respect. A couple of years ago, I wasn't happy with my heads up game. I talked to several other players about that facet of the game, and I feel that it helped me a great deal. You'll notice that I asked the opinions of several players with very different styles. I would like to pick and choose a method, from these different styles to use as my own. All of the comments have been helpful, but I would still like to hear from some of the other players that I named in the original post.

[joelarbear]

Oh, and Linda's advice was to flop quads on the first hand. She recommends that highly.

[panama20]

So you not gonna answer my question there Joe?

[joelarbear]

Check your private messages Mark.

[johnf]

Let me see if I can sum this up in more of a nut shell:

I would define deep stack as triple the average stack with 1/2 the players already out. I.E., 60 total players, 30 left, total chips in play 90,000, average stack 3,000, you have 9,000+.

Stating the obvious...."You can't win unless you get to the final table & hopefully with at least an average stack."

You have to maintain or increase your stack while 20 more players go out.

A new mind set has to come into play. Pick your spots very carefully. Be neither too tight nor too loose.

Table shows weakness, make a big enough move to take down the pot. Bluffs work here.

Don't call large pre flop raises unless you strongly believe you have the raiser dominated. Maybe even come over the top. Fold that KQ unless you are 90% sure that the raiser is F.O.S. (play the player)

When you hold a monster, preflop raise & take the blinds.

If you've limped in from one of the blinds & hit the flop big time, consider how to suck the most chips out of the remaining players but make them pay if you read a draw that could beat your hand. I.E., you flop trips & a straight or flush draw is showing.

Manage your chips keeping in mind that you have to reach the final table with at least an average stack.

Don't get bored or impatient. Those rags could be a blessing keeping you away from risky involvement.

ebba bee, ebba bee, thats all folks !

[Stakes]

Quads huh, is that how Linda likes to roll? OK. She wasn't on the big stack, I was. But my advise to you, for what it's worth, is to give up poker all together. You are far to mean and grumpy to play in a tourney style poker game with so many people. You should limit your play to online or home games with people who may put up with your crap.

Happy Anniversary ya grumpy old bastard.

[joelarbear]

Originally Posted by Stakes

But my advise to you, for what it's worth, is to give up poker all together. You are far to mean and grumpy to play in a tourney style poker game with so many people. You should limit your play to online or home games with people who may put up with your crap.

Truer words may never have been spoken.

[GettyLee]

Ok Joe you said you wanted my take on the subject,But it is SO hard to define how to play a big stack in an APC event because in all honesty you have to have 10K before the break to be a big stack in all honesty and how often does that happen. But as far as non apc events ill throw my 2 cents in and some of these can apply to APC. One thing you will always see me do if i have a button with extremely tight blinds i will ALWAYS raise those blinds if there is only one limper,I try and keep pots small and accumalate chips slowly rather then have my tourney life on the line 50 times. Another thing that people always tend to lean towards is playing super aggressive and pissing that stack away by trying to bully the whole table and that works when your name is Jamie Gold and you catch QQ and KK every other hand more times then not this will bite you in the ass. I've always said in APC tourneys before the break if you have alot of GREEN chips your playing a good tourney and thats for one reason your picking up alot of small pots and letting the other idiots take them selves out. My biggest piece of advice is play alot of pots in the 25/50 blind levels with decent cards try and build a stack and then slow down at 50/100 and play a nice solid/aggressive game when you get hands.

[EvilWeenie]

To see you at the table, you'd never guess that there'd be such logic and reason behind your game. I guess that means it's working.

[ssiman]

Getty will surprise you. If he'd just calm down a little bit, he will be a force at any table. Hell, I'm taking him to Vegas when he's 21, and feel its a good investment - it better be anyway, or else I'll have Riley's Graddaddy talk to him.

[TheWOL]

Hell Rob please have him talk to him anyway would ya?! lol