Deep Stacks = More Skill

Do you think that the deeper the stacks are and the slower blinds increase the more that it favours the better players and reduces luck?
I think it does as it gives more scope to outplay the fish than when the blinds increase really fast.
I have been playing the deep stacked tournaments on Stars recently.

Definitely. Pros play tournaments small ball style and often don't gamble the 55/45's. A slower structure gives them time to gradually build big stacks without necessarily needing to stack someone. A faster structure necessitates riskier play.

Yep, that`s obvious, I`d say.

Reason I like DS tournaments

In deepstack tournaments you have more time to wait for really good cards.
Deepstacks are always with higher buyin, it means better players. It`s always nice to see "fish"in tournament, that means you have 4-5k chips more

It's clearly true that it favors better players. But there is a cap - if both players have 1 million big blinds its basically no different from if both players have 1 billion (in no limit).

In limit, deep stacks favor the better player even more.

I've actually noticed the opposite. I've played DS (3000) and SS (5000) on bodog and noticed that people are willing to call with anything pre flop and post flop because of the size of the stack. They figure if it's only 1-500 to call that's not that much compared to their stack and will call with absolute garbage.

Yea and no.

You can wait for better cards.. so you wont be pushing all-in with random crap.

However the starting hand value decreases as stack sizes increase because of things like increased implied odds and the fact that you can play deeper post flop. You can now fold a hand on the river without losing half your buy-in stack.

I think a lot of beginners think the skill in deepstack play is being NIT'ier than other players and it isnt.

Well, not always...(from today's WSOP Event #2 $40,000 NLHE tourney via Pokernews.com)

With the board showing , Tony G just got it all in with versus Erik Cajelais' . The turn was the , further improving Tony G's hand. And the river was the , giving Tony G the large pot.

Tony G is quickly up to 248,000, while Cajelais falls to 3,800.

Or this...

We already have a man down only thirty minutes into this event and unfortunately, it was 1993 Main Event Champion Jim Bechtel.

Bechtel, David Chiu, and Per Ummer saw a flop of . Bechtel checked, Chiu bet 6,000, Ummer folded and Bechtel called. The cameon the turn and Bechtel checked again. Chiu fired out 9,200 only to be met with a shove from Bechtel for his entire 119,000 stack.

Chiu made the call and flipped over for a flopped full house, cracking Bechtel's . The river was the and Bechtel's tournament was over while Chiu doubled up to 245,000.

Of course these are some extremes, but just cause it's deep stacked doesn't mean people don't look for early advantages/double ups. Even in a $40K buy in event.

I understand that, but I can probably find many more instances when tourney giants like hellmuth, Chan, etc will fold strong draws and avoid races preflop because of slow structures. Obviously not everyone, but that is the consensus, and that's my point.

YES! I love deep stack tourneys and feel that they are much more of a skill thing, as you have more chips and don't have to worry about getting blinded away quickly and you can focus more on skill and not just getting lucky.

Look at the opposite: how many pros and skilled players play in super turbos?......None. That's not by accident. Pros are only going to play if they have a decided advantage. Hence why they can make a living playing poker. Tough to make a living while playing on the 60/40 edge.

playing deep def has more skill.

not so sure about the skill part. if your a good player should not matter to much deep or not. i like deep stack b/c you have more time to wait for good hands, and you get more play for your money.

So you agree that if everyone has 1 BB it is the same amount of skill?

It is well known that deep stack tourneys favor better players. They also have longer blind structures traditionally. That makes for very long tourneys, which I personally do not like, unless the prize pool is large, then it's ok. It takes too much time and concentration to do well and is not worth the time and effort unless the payout is big, or at least relatively big.

bigger buyins ftw. actually cash games ftw hah

anyways, deep stacks allow you to 3bet IP and do all sorts of saucy stuff like cold 4bet bluffing. pretty nifty imo

The reason why I like playing the 90 person sngs on pokerstars is because the blind structure is slower than any of there other sngs. Yes the 180 person sngs have 15 min levels, but the levels jump up faster.

On average these take about 3 1/2 hours to finish, so I try to play 2-3 at a time and also mix in ring game on the side. Once I get to the bubble stages/FT I will sit out of the ring game and focus on winning the sng.

A lot of people don't like the deep stack tournaments simply because they take too long. You see that turbos are actually the most popular and most played tournaments/sngs on stars, because people want to play and not take up a lot of time.

It still favours more skillful players.

i luvdeep stak comps,,,,,u can make muvs early doors without crippling your stak,,,,as for waitin for big cards,,,ide say it depends on wat type ov table your on,,if im on a tite table and ive got 5k startin chips im gunna be theivin early doors

level? tons of players play turbos / hyper turbos all day and have a huge long-term edge in them. the decisions come at you very fast and it is over a long period of time that you play them.

(if single tabling) either you play 1 deepstack game over 10 hours to ITM-FT or you can play like 50+ hypers in that time - and believe me, through time good players reveal themselves with a respectable RoI.

true but even the best sng players dont have a significant edge over someone that has studied ICM. whereas tom dwan has a huge edge over someone when theyre deep

i gotta agree here. it obv does favor better players.

but on the other hand i think alot more players see alot more flops than they should be. your more inclined to call with a deepstack because your not risking much of your chipstack just to see a flop.

if youre playing deep you should be playing more flops in position