stall or play??

What do you think? Late in a tourney and a person is short-stacked about 50 out of the money, should he stall and hope to make the money or play?

Depends on how top-heavy the payout structure is. And on your stack size relative to the other players'.

You need to figure out how many m's you have left. If the blinds and antes are eating at you quickly you are going to have to take a stand and shove soon when the right cards hit you. Others may tighten up their play at this time to hit the money, but the big stacks will call with any 2 knowing you are desperate.

If you are short stack and in jeopardy of busting before the bubble, stalling can't hurt you. There are usually enough tables left in a MTT to let you slide into the money.

If you are the big stacks stalling can't hurt you either, the stall is eating up level time so that when you do get a hand, or make a move, the stakes will be bigger.

For the average stack its a double edged sword. You know that you will likely play TAG to insure ITM, but you are losing time, and the blinds are going up fast relative to the number of hands seen.

In general stalling seems to be mainly a function of how big the tourney is. In a single table tourney, obviously stalling does nothing, likewise with limited table tourneys, (2,3,4,- 10) tourneys, though at 10 tables there is some value in stalling, it is still mostly negated by the hand for hand process.

However you perceive it, I feel it is a valid strategy to stall when the time is right.

Stalling is great for Sat. seats.
As your stalling the blind level may increase which could now put a SS all-in, rather than him squeeze out another orbit.

It depends how big the field is since sites like Full Tilt go hand-for-hand right before the bubble. You might still get blinded out so beware of how many BBs you have left and how close you are to the bubble.

I believe it depends on how close you are to the money. For instance, lets say that you are 10 spots away from the money...then you should tighten up a quite bit; however, if you are 50 spots away from the money, I believe you should still play to win, steal the blinds, play to stay alive.

depends how short stacked IMO, if your short but still have enough to survive a couple orbits then stalling is fine, but if your the short stack of the table considering relative stack sizes but have enough to put up a fight against the second short stack, then it's really up to you to stall or not, IMO if you have enough chips to steal then play your game.
I have been in similar situation a number of times but think that being 50 from the money to long of a fight and push any 2 without stalling, but if I am 20 or less from the money I do stall.

stalling works wonders if they payout is the same for top finishers such as a satelite tourny. but sometimes i have seen people stall too much with big or little stacks that cost them BIG

Waste of time stalling in my opinion. If your that close to the money it is likely any two cards will do. Shove it in and roll the dice. Steal the blinds and a good gambled double up can get you right back in it. Then again when you miss....to the rail.

im not big on stalling because ultimately it can hurt you more than help you. i guess it comes down to you are you gonna give up and settle for bottom payout or go for it and try to win. way i see it, while your stalling, the blinds are going up putting you in worse shape to try get chips, so pick a hand, toss em in and go for the gold.

when I get in thoser situations I think its very important to play smart which means be passive aggressive stall before you fold and steal blinds when your in posiotion its all part of the game good luck to you

I have done it, most have done it, and you have to do what you have to do, to get itm. I really try not to do it though, because it is bad ethics, but...

it depends what your ultimate goal is -to cash or to win? i think it's fairly obvious which goal relates to which strategy

if its the bubble, def stall. i folded Aces once on the weekly 100k on everest. was bubble for the ft and 3 guys where allin. thanks for the free placing!

It is not unethical at all to use your time bank. It often makes sense close to bubble, stack sizes taken into account/ It also makes sense sometime when your table is half empty and you want it to fill as others get KOd. Also it steams some people, which is fun, because they will jump on you when you finally go all in w AA and you take half their stack.

to be honest if youre looking to stall just to make the money youre playing the tourney for all the wrong reasons-u need to play to win and not just play to get your buy in back-i think if anything u need to abuse the bubble-dont be afraid to bust out-your goal should always be to win the tourney and just not to make the money--the_urge27

i actually meant i just wanted to know how others felt about people doing it...i don't do it, and it frustrates me when people do it because yes, don't play to place, play to win

and i think all the people who do stall need to read a book and learn what "hand for hand" means

If you are SS and 50 out of the money, chances are that the blinds will eat you before you hit the money. The only way that you stand to improve your position in the tournament is by shoving with any reasonable holding (over pair, AK, AQ, AJ, A10, mid to high suited connectors). You run the risk of going broke, but you were gonna do that anyway.

I would gamble and try to get back in it...... if you do make it you will probably be out right away because you wont have any chips to play with........ gamble....gamble.......

you have to take a stand, and in todays game should of showed why you don't stall the game aka the time still ticks by on the blinds going up so you also have that to think about. I was short stacked the whole game from some bad calls but i took a shot at taking the pot when i had to, and the blinds did not take me out.
I would also say if you have less then 10 to 20 places to go to get in the money then go for it.
I hope that helps you out.

To me it is a double edged sword. Stalling only works if some of the other tables are playing at a normal pace so that the short stacks on the other tables face the blinds more often. The problem with stalling is you are going to see fewer hands because blinds are going to increase faster in relation to number of hands seen. I will tighten up and be selective when I push.

I cant believe how much "depends" crap is in this thread. NEVER EVER STALL.

its rude as hell to the other players who are actually trying to play the tourney for more than the bottom payout.

You need to not be a wimp, and take a chance. You just might end up getting back in it and making much more than the bottom payout.

If you have the chips to fold into the money, fine do that, I wouldn't but you can. Just dont stall the whole table.

I must say that while I have used limited stall tactics in HORSE tourneys to get through certain rounds and have found that useful at times.

HOWEVER, as a general rule I agree that stalling is rude and annoys everyone at the table. With that said, pissing off the table, in and of itself, can be something of a strategy. I have seen people get pissed off at stallers and do some stupid stuff (likely thinking the person didn't know what they wre doing or that they just weren't paying attention) much to the benefit of both myself and those afforementioned stallers...

But all in all, I think stalling just to get the bottom payout is not a particularly good strategy when taking a chance on a good hand could get you so much more!