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Players who aren't accustomed to making it deep into
tournaments, but find themselves there anyway, often miss great
opportunities for improving their standing due to inexperience in the late
stages of a tournament. These mistakes can end up costing them their own
chips, opportunities to take others' chips, and opportunities to eliminate
players and move up the payout schedule. If a new player to the endgame is
paying careful enough attention, he'll spot openings that he can take
advantage of - here are a few pointers to help you along the way.
Blind Stealing
As tournaments get closer and closer to the money, play often slows to a crawl
as the short stacks look for the perfect hand to move all-in with and the
medium stacks try to hold their ground. Aggressive players with big stacks
can often pick up as many chips at this point in a tournament as they have
through all the levels leading up to the money, but players on the medium
stacks who are willing to take a few risks can also find this a great time
to become big stacks. The key is knowing the players who are seated to your
left. If you've been watching the action closely throughout the levels
leading up to the money you should know these player pretty well. Pick a
decent hand - something you could play in the face of a re-raise if you
wanted to - and make a move when the timing is right. More often than not
you'll pick a good spot and face little or no resistance, and enough of
these steals when the blinds and antes get high can bolster your stack at a
great time.
The Cooperation Play
When a short stack moves all-in late in a tournament and you find yourself
holding a decent hand when your stack won't be damaged by calling, it's
often worthwhile to toss a few chips in with the chance of taking another
opponent out. Many times your fellow big stacks will get the same idea and
enter the pot as well. If they do, and you don't hit an absolute monster
hand, it's important that you resist the urge to make a bet when the board
helps you in some way. Unless there are so many chips at stake that taking
the whole pot is of maximum importance, the best play (if your opponent is
smart enough to realize it as well) is for those of you left in the hand to
simply check the hand down without any further betting. This way there are
more chances to knock the all-in player out of the tournament and help
everyone out. It's very important that you do not discuss this play at the
table - that's collusion, and it's illegal. The cooperation here is
implicit, not explicit.
In a recent tournament I found myself in such a situation with about 7 players
left to the money. From the small blind I called a short stack's all-in bet
with Q-9, and the big blind called as well. The flop came K-T-x
with two diamonds, I checked, and the big blind bet out. I wasn't going to
risk any money on a gutshot draw here, so I folded - and my opponent turned
over Q-T
for middle pair. The short stack didn't have anything dangerous, but with his
pre-flop all-in move he very well could have had a king or a flush draw
here. By getting overly aggressive with a weak hand, my fellow big stack
left open the possibility of an opponent getting back into the thick of
things. If he'd simply checked the hand down
The 10-to-1 rule
Many inexperienced players on the big stack who hold mediocre cards or worse
and face an all-in from a short-stacked player tend to fold based simply on
hand strength. If you have more than 10 times the short stack, however, it
makes perfect sense to call regardless of your holding. You risk-to-reward
ratio is extremely favorable in such situations - if you win you get some
extra chips, and if you lose you're not really hurt. In one recent
tournament I held 8-3 in the big blind with a big stack. A short
stack with less than 10% of my total moved all-in, and I had to make the
call despite my weak holding. My opponent turned over 4-3, making me
a 65-35 favorite. A short stack can be moving in with literally any two
cards, because picking up the blinds and antes becomes a higher priority as
the tournament goes on. Taking small risks at the ending stages can pay off
not only by adding a few more chips to your stack, but also by letting your
remaining opponents know that you can call with any two cards in the right
situation.
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