[TopTrotter]

Some real good points made here ... for a cash player, the weekie is no problem since all you basically have to do is make out your deposit slip and be carefull not to "tap on the glass" as they say or you'll scare the fish. They can't hurt you, even if they win - which they will do often enough to keep them there as a continual source of money for the better players in the game.

In the tourney however, these people can be dangerous cuz they can cripple you in a given tourney and THIS TOURNEY is the only thing that matters. And the weak player can hurt you in more than just the obvious way (getting lucky) - they can hurt you in a "stealth" or "indirect" way -- by losing their chips to OTHER STRONG PLAYERS at your table who then will use the power of that stack against YOU. Hence, when they are at your table, you simply MUST get your fair share of their chips. It is IMPERATIVE. I agreee with what AGREEN said before.... forget about running bluffs and semi-bluffs with this type. Also, in order to outplay these people off the flop, you need to ISOLATE them. This is KEY. You cannot change your game so much (to attack them) as to then make your self more beatable and vulnerable to the better players however either. So you need sufficient power and position to make a large enough raise to drive others out so that you are head up with the calling station. ISOLATION is key. For live play, here is what I do, and it works AMAZINGLY WELL.... watch pots where the weakie is involved and when the flop comes, DO NOT LOOK AT THE FLOP (even if you are in the hand). The cards are there, the will not move. Watch the weaker player. Watch their face as the flop comes. Very soon you will be able to discern whether the flop helped them or not. Very reliable. Also watch the way they handle their chips. No matter what, take good PLAYABLE hands and don't be affraid to play them.. in isolation against this one player.

Back to the original discussion on building big stacks.... I really don't think a MONSTER stack is needed. I don't know about the tourney in question here, but in other large MTTs there is really NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP between the size of your stack after 2-3 rounds and your likelyhood of appearing at the final table. However, there comes a point where it is absolutely necessary to have a usable stack otherwise you might as well not even be there. Don't get too loose trying to get involved in all sorts of pots early...... REMEMBER - YOUR CHIPS ARE YOUR POWER. IT IS BETTER TO MAKE ONE $500 BET THAN TO CALL FIVE $100 BETS.

In fact, I kind of like to have a medium-ish stack and fly under the radar for most of a large tourney. But I am not one of the "survivalists" who just wants to see how deep into a tournament I can get. I like to take my shots with strong situations early to mid stages but I will shift gears and open up WAY BEFORE most tighter players do. As such, there's a point where either I build a USEFUL stack, or bust. Harrington does a good job on this in his 2nd book. I am not comfortable going NUTS and exiting very early trying to build a big stack early.