low stack late tournament strategy

First off, new to the forum and forums in general. Nonetheless, my strategy question revolves around late stage tournament play, as it relates to how big or small the stack infront of your little avatar or oh-so-witty poker alias is.

To paint the scene on the screen, which my question is drawn from, I played in a $500 freeroll last night on BetonUSA last night. There were approximately 770 or so entries and it was a freeroll, so early going was loose as it gets, but I accrued around 35,000 chips by the time we were down to 100 or so left.

Now, by this point in the tournament the big stacks were over 100,000 and growing. Why, I am sure, but I turned into the tightest player at the table, trying to eek out a dollar or two for my time invest.

Nevertheless and to my surprise, the few hands i played (mostly my blinds) had me up and down 10,000 or so and i ended up making it to the final table and taking sixth, earning a whopping $17.

Yeah, not awhole lot of money, but 6th out that many had me feeling smart about my play. So, i guess my general question in general is the last six or seven tables or less, does any one have any advice about making a decision on how to play using your stack verses the big stacks as ratio indicator or anything else in this arena of play.

And yes, I realize my conservative play pretty much put me out of winning the tournament, and one should play to win. But is there not some point where one has to say "ok I'm not playing for first, i'm shooting for final table" since my stack isn't going to get me there?

Any advice would be appreciated?????

Dsmn8

In tournaments you need to be able to shift gears as the competition gets smaller and smaller. in the beginning, tight play is good in order to weed out the loose/aggressive players early on. Play tight and slowly build up your chip stack...but when there is less players and less tables to play, you have to be able to turn from tight play to aggressive, in order to go against the bigger stacks. Since everyone wants to make it to the final table, now is a good time to push your chips around (especially smalls stacks). The blinds should be pretty decent in the late parts of the tourny, so focus on stealing blinds, protecting your blinds, and stealing pots in order to build up your chip stack. Dont be afraid to push the low stacks around either late in the game...always raise and reraise them and keep putting pressure on the low stack. (but dont get stupid, cuz it could hurt if you get caught). When it comes to big stacks, keep in mind they're probably using their chips to intimidate players out of pots. When it comes to playing the big stacks, i normally stay out of their way unless i have a premium hand and i can come over the top of their raise/reraise. If you find yourself with the lowest stack at the table, dont be afraid to constantly raise and reraise and steal blinds/pots as often as you can. in my mind, when im the lowest stack i feel like i have nothing to lose and all to gain, so im not afraid to be agressive and to put my chips to the test with constant raises and all ins.

Hi Dsmn8 - I had a similar situation. I was in 32nd place out of 4000 the other day nearing the end with just over 130 players left. I had about 35,000 chips and got "thrifty" with my chips. I know I should have been playing more hands but I was afraid I'd lose my chips. Then I saw myself drifting lower in ranking .... and then the blinds were up to 3000/6000. So I thought I better play something and build my stack because pretty soon I'd be down to nothing. The blinds came around and there went 9,000. Then again, another 9,000 so I was down to around 18,000 now. So the next decent hand I had - I played. Unfortunately, I lost and came in 125 in the tourney. I think the secret of these freeroll type tourneys is to accumulate lots of chips early and continue to play looser until the end. Many of the top chip leaders had over 100,000 +
chips and started playing very, very tight near the end. I watched them and learned quite a bit even if I didn't place in the money.

Good luck!

the best thing to do id say iff your sitting at a table short stack is as you said play tight keep an eye out on your chips and the blinds then on your first good hand go all in if no one calls youve got the chips to last the blinds and antis for a while but if someone with alot of chips calls your sure to stand a good chance as he wont be playing as tight as you so you should have the better of the 2 hands then its down to the community cards to double you up!

online its harder cause u dont have a chance to visually see tells or give out false ones earlier but if u can catch someone only playing a pattern of certain card combo u might be able to catch them off guard on a poor flop.but congrats any time you make it to the final table with a little luck you can win and you got to remember you are a winner for getting there to begin with . you just got to take a shot but try 2 make it a big bomb

any size stack at a final table can win you the 1st place spot
but you have to remember a few things 1.choose your hands wisely. keeping in mind that the BIG stacks are going to be like bullys waiting for you to jump in. you can almost guarantee if you limp in a pot (even with a quality hand) the big stacks are sure to raise..to pull you all in. at this point you need again to choose hands wisely....and a lil luck never hurts

When at the intermediate point in a large tournament and 80% of the players have 400% or more chips try throwing the hail mary.

What is the hail mary?

First you need 3 callers prior to making your play.

Cards to play outside of the obvious power hands and possibly instead of a typical power hand are mid level suited connectors. You will find that many times the callers are holding each other's fill cards and that if you pair up this is good enough. The straight or flush are icing on the cake.

Bet all in and hope for the best. At least you will get to choose the time and the place if you lose which beats getting blinded out of the game.

I like Batista's post and have done that - most times made a little and then busted out. Problem with smaller stacks than most players is the blinds will kill you. So you HAVE to make a move or play really tight to just hang in there. That's the way the game works, get the short stacks out. Let the big dogs fight it out to the finish.

You need to decide if you want to finish in the top 10 or the top three. If your goal is top ten then you tight play allows other players to knock each other out. If you goal was top 3 or a win, you must wait for a good hand and go all in. You will either steal the big blinds or double up if your hand holds up. I do well with short stacks because I play more agressive. I wait for my hand and then go for it.

find a diecent hand and go all in. (maybe thats my problem)

I agree with Smith300. There are times when you just want to sit back and let the others knock themselves out. I've played in many mini tournaments at Paradise Poker where there are 10 players and the top 3 places get paid. If I get a commanding lead I will post and fold until there are only 2 other players left, folding EVERYTHING except a big blind where nobody raises.

Put it this way: How often does AA or KK get beat?
The answer is very often, and once you have enough money, keep it.