Losing Left – Why Stack Size (and thereby Tournament vs. Cash) Matters

Last week I introduced my “new” rule about playing weak hands out of position in online tournaments. Basically my theory is based on the fact that I can wait out these situations and hope for either a) a better hand later, or b) a passive opponent that assists me to a showdown cheaply. I also relied heavily on the fact that blinds chop away at a stack quickly in a tournament.

This week I want to talk about the exception that makes the rule. What happens when I have 10,000 chips and the blinds are 25/50 for the next 15 minutes online, or 40 minutes in a brick and mortar? Am I going to play this situation the same way? Well, I will say that this will be my general rule for tournaments. However, the deeper the stack sizes are, the more I’m willing to make an exception. Also, reading the board can’t be dismissed. If there are draws out there, then a called bet by a positional player becomes weaker based on the chance that they are chasing a draw.

The definitive example of this exception comes in cash game play. While the game is technically “table stakes”, ultimately the amount of money that can be won is only limited by how many times players reach into their deep pockets. There is some money out there to be made in value with middle pair. While my intention is usually to keep the pot small, in a cash game, or a deep stack tournament, the best way to insure a small pot it to be sure to take control of the pot, which means taking the lead after the flop.

Here’s another example- top pair, mediocre kicker. But with a deeper stack (and as important my opponents had deep stacks), I was able to take control of the hand on the flop, and put it away on the turn when it became apparent I had the best hand.


*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #39510252010: Tournament #241450085, $0.25+$0.00 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (25/50) - 2010/02/09 19:32:10 PT [2010/02/09 22:32:10 ET]
Table '241450085 10' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: amour59 (1615 in chips)
Seat 2: horizon58 (2975 in chips)
Seat 3: shaydushane (6155 in chips)
Seat 4: CgCook38 (4910 in chips)
Seat 5: moneymaica (750 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 6: clingfree (2550 in chips)
Seat 7: lexxl19 (8900 in chips)
Seat 8: JimmiBlY (9540 in chips)
Seat 9: TJ1812 (6960 in chips)
amour59: posts small blind 25
horizon58: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [Th Ah]
shaydushane: folds
CgCook38: calls 50
moneymaica: folds
clingfree: folds
lexxl19: folds
JimmiBlY: calls 50
TJ1812: folds
amour59: folds
horizon58: checks
*** FLOP *** [8s As 6d]
horizon58: checks
CgCook38: bets 100
JimmiBlY: calls 100
horizon58: calls 100
*** TURN *** [8s As 6d] [9c]
horizon58: checks
CgCook38: bets 350
JimmiBlY: folds
horizon58: folds
Uncalled bet (350) returned to CgCook38
CgCook38 collected 475 from pot
CgCook38: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 475 | Rake 0
Board [8s As 6d 9c]
Seat 1: amour59 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: horizon58 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 3: shaydushane folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: CgCook38 collected (475)
Seat 5: moneymaica folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: clingfree folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: lexxl19 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: JimmiBlY folded on the Turn
Seat 9: TJ1812 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)