February 20, 2011

Daily Hand Quiz

Protecting an Awkward Stack in NLHE Tournaments



When you’re playing a multi-table tournament at one of your favorite online poker sites, it’s never fun getting into stack situations that leave you with a plethora of awkward decisions; can I open here, or is someone going to pick on me and three bet? Or should I just shove 44 UTG? I only have 13 big blinds left, isn’t it time for a move? Those questions are very tricky and table dependent to answer, but there are a few things you can do to help deal with the awkward stack phase of a tournament,

First and foremost, make it a goal to find a way out of the awkward stack phase as quickly as possible. When you have an M between 4 and 9, you’re in that valley of stacks that can’t really do much more than resteal shove and open/call or even just open shove. Most of the time, this is where aspiring tournament players completely collapse as players. They do one of two things routinely; tighten up until the find a monster hand to shove with, or immediately begin looking for any excuse to shove all-in and blind steal until they get back above M10.

The super tight method is guaranteed to keep you stuck in awkward stack limbo until the end of the tournament, especially if you’re playing at US friendly online poker sites which tend to have stiffer competition that will attack your stack relentlessly. If everyone folds to me on the cutoff and I have 89h and a M5 stack (t15,000 at t1,000/t2,000) I’m getting my stack in there and hoping to take down the blinds and pick up 20% to my stack. If I do get called, I have a robust hand that plays well against many of the hands that may be looking me up in this spot, like dry aces, broadway hands, and small pocket pairs, giving me a fair shot to double into a playable stack. If I keep folding hands like that, when I finally do find a hand an orbit and a blind increase later, I’m happy to shove 1010 with my last t12,000, but with the blinds up to t1,500/t3,000, I’m going to get called lighter, and doubling up still leaves me with an M right around 5; putting me right back where I started.

The hyper aggressive shoving method does one thing that helps and one thing that hurts a lot; you’ll start stealing blind the first one or two times you do it. Then you’re going to begin to get looked up with a much wider range from that point on in the tournament, meaning if your table doesn’t break, your ability to steal will be almost completely worthless from that point on. Being able to steal blinds while mixing in good hands is a nifty play to have in your arsenal, and while blindly shoving all in three consecutive hands in a row to boost up your M helps, getting called by A8 when you’re shipping with A2 is a bad scenario; if you had a tighter image when you shipped the A2, you’re ore likely to get by the A8 and the nightmare dominated scenario that you face there. Be aware of your awkward stack, and play aggressively, but with a degree of caution with it, and you’ll find your way out of it.

Recent Articles

Tips for Playing Holdem Heads-Up Poker Tournaments

Delaware Online Gambling to Be Led by 888 & Scientific

Poker games you can play at William Hill

Virgingames.com Bingo Offerings for More Exciting Gameplays

Quick List of Reliable Free Poker Bankroll Sites

Are Poker Books an Outmoded Form of Learning the Game?

Carbon Poker Offering Diverse Lineup of Poker Games

Features We’d Love to See at Poker Training Sites

Which Internet Games Will You Choose to Play?

Who fancies a game of Bingo?

Titan Poker Has Tools to Help You Be the Best Player Possible

Pokerbonuscode.net Reviews – Just What You Needed

What’s Next For Federal Online Poker Regulation?

Poker Pro Beth Shak to Launch Shoe Line

What’s Next For Slot Machines?

DOJ Seeking Help Administering Full Tilt Remission Fund

Will South Point Be The First Real Money Online Poker Room in Nevada?

Andy Bloch Might be the Best Poker Player You’ve Never Heard Of

Online Poker for US Players: Tips for Playing it Smart

Expected Value of Various Gambling Games

Playpokeronline.net Announces Updates to Bet365 Poker Guide

Wptpokerbonus.com – A Great Review Site for All Online Poker Players

Staying Up To Date With Mobile Poker News

Are Players Really Beating Micro Stakes Online?

Learn Poker For Free: Top Tools To Improve Your Game

In Poker Position is King

Merge Poker Sites – Poker the Way You Want to Play

Innovative Poker Room Reviews From OnlinePokerRealMoney.com

Mobile Gambling – Playing Smart

Take Advantage of the 888 Poker No Deposit Bonus

USA Players: Come Back to Online Poker

PlayPokerOnline.com Releases 2012 Bonus Code List

The Same Great Games & Poker School are Offered at PokerRoom

Are You Using The M Calculator For Poker?

Become a Blackjack VIP Faster Online