STT Question

In a 6 person STTwhen its 3 handed and you have the chip lead, is it smarter to go after the middle stack and eliminate the closest threat to you or let middle stack take out the short stack

Its important that you maintain your discipline and play the way you have been the time to change gears is when you are heads up and not before.

Great question, but it depends on the situation. Really depends on how the middle stack has been playing, if he/she is looking at an easy second and suddenly comes alive then you should pay attention.

If hes been aggressive through-out, then you need to take the chance of the win on a premium hand, quite simple really. There is a lot of factors to consider in reality, this is a game specific question.

On one of the televised final tables it was Hansen and the Magician plus other lesser known players. Hansen made a point to challenge the player he believed to be his biggest threat... the Magician. I think his thinking was "it's him or me" so he went straight at him... with his T8-offsuit... and won... Hansen proceeded to take the table down after that.

If you are the chip leader, you should be concentrating on stealing the blinds or buy the pot with mediocre to crap cards (but not all the time). The short stack is indeed the niggest threat because they are playing sper tight and only play great hands so unless you have a good hand, don't bother to call. Medium stack is not quite in the same position but they do play cautiously. Since they have more chips to work with, they might play OK hands. They could even steal the blinds at times. So, I think it might be wise to focus on the medium stacks. Be careful though! They'll take advantage of their position and once a premium hand comes up, it's all in.