hott_estelle
Legend
Silver Level
Yes this may seem like a very simple concept, and OK, this may seem like a very simple statement that most of us already know, but you'll be quite surprised to know how many players immediately assume that a player with a big stack--such as double max buyin on a cash table (i.e. $100+ at a $50 Max buyin table)--is a good or great player. There are countless times I have noticed a player play overly tight and weak to a big stack because they assume the big stack is a great player and obv has a better hand than them. As basic as this concept is, sometimes we have to get down to the basics and analyze certian elements of our game that we may be overlooking, and hindering our performance in any possible manner; this post probably applies more so to the less experienced players, but it's never a bad thing to accentuate certain points that will be beneficial to our overall game.
This is a mistake that many new players/less experienced players make routinely, and even some of the experienced players at times let this slip into their mind and unconciously play differently against a big stack. A big stack does not = a great player. Instead of assuming this general statement is true for every big stack player, one should actually use his/her own reading abilities to judge what type of player the big stack is. Don't get lazy and just assume that the big stack plays solid TAG or premium hands because he has a lot of cash in front of him. I understand when multi-tabling, sometimes people don't pay attention to the other action going on at a table, if they themselves are not in the hand, but we can't ever get away from the basics.
The reasons why I'm writing this thread, is because of a couple hands I've witness the past couple days--both online and live--(and many more that I'm sure have occurred) in which one player did not go off reads but went off the basic idea that a big stack = good player.
One example I saw at a $50 Max Buyin Game .25/.50 blinds (don't have HH, but remember the hand)
Player 1 with about $60 stack raised standard raise of 4xBB with QQ from MP. Player 2 with about $130 stack (the big stack in this example) simply calls the raise. Everyone else folds.
Flop is 10-7-2 rainbow. Player 1 bets out about $5. Player 2 raises about $15 more on top. Player 1 contemplates for about 50 seconds, uses up time bank, and tells everyone he had QQ, and say he gives Player 2 credit for a premium hand, and says he thinks Player 2 has KK or AA and folds. Player 2 shows 44 and takes the pot, while laughing at player 1.
Obv Player 1 completely misplayed the hand. We could easily say it was simply a bad read, or that Player 1 is a very weak/bad player. Both are untrue. From my observations---by this time we had been playing for about 100+ hands on same table--Player 1 was a solid TAG player, who definitely made calls like this routinely against players with a similar stack or lower. Also, had he been going off reads, he would have realized that Player 2 had shown on a couple occasions on making plays at pots on the flop with low PP or just draws.
This example obv does not apply to every situation, and yes Player 1 played this pretty unconventionally, and we might think we would never make a similar mistake, but I've seen people routinely get out of their game when playing against the overwhelming big stack at the table because they assume that the big stack = good player. You should always be able to be comfortable in playing the best possibly poker and making the best possible decisions at any poker table, or else you should not be playing at that table. For example, if the fact that you could get your stack of about $60 on a table busted by a $130 stack at a $50 Max table, influences your play against that $130 stack to the point that you're not comfortable enough to put all your money in the middle when you believe that you have the best hand (because you could bust), then you should not be playing at those stakes. If playing against the big stack influences your play differently in any possibly way and makes you go against your conventional reads/style--in a way that it would be a very negative hit to your game and profits--then you definitely need to move down in stakes to become comfortable enough to play within your BR.
If this post seems a bit repetitive at times, it's just because I completely have written this on the fly and havn't edited any of it so just forgive me for that. I just wanted to get a point across on something I've been noticing a lot at the tables, and not in online poker. In live play at even the 1/2 or 2/5 tables here in Vegas, I see people play differently to a big stack because they're afraid of getting busted or afraid that the big stack is a "great" player. Anyways, hope this helps you in the future if you just read all this. I should probably try to edit this and make it a bit more readable, but I'm tired at the moment so I'm just going to go to sleep.
This is a mistake that many new players/less experienced players make routinely, and even some of the experienced players at times let this slip into their mind and unconciously play differently against a big stack. A big stack does not = a great player. Instead of assuming this general statement is true for every big stack player, one should actually use his/her own reading abilities to judge what type of player the big stack is. Don't get lazy and just assume that the big stack plays solid TAG or premium hands because he has a lot of cash in front of him. I understand when multi-tabling, sometimes people don't pay attention to the other action going on at a table, if they themselves are not in the hand, but we can't ever get away from the basics.
The reasons why I'm writing this thread, is because of a couple hands I've witness the past couple days--both online and live--(and many more that I'm sure have occurred) in which one player did not go off reads but went off the basic idea that a big stack = good player.
One example I saw at a $50 Max Buyin Game .25/.50 blinds (don't have HH, but remember the hand)
Player 1 with about $60 stack raised standard raise of 4xBB with QQ from MP. Player 2 with about $130 stack (the big stack in this example) simply calls the raise. Everyone else folds.
Flop is 10-7-2 rainbow. Player 1 bets out about $5. Player 2 raises about $15 more on top. Player 1 contemplates for about 50 seconds, uses up time bank, and tells everyone he had QQ, and say he gives Player 2 credit for a premium hand, and says he thinks Player 2 has KK or AA and folds. Player 2 shows 44 and takes the pot, while laughing at player 1.
Obv Player 1 completely misplayed the hand. We could easily say it was simply a bad read, or that Player 1 is a very weak/bad player. Both are untrue. From my observations---by this time we had been playing for about 100+ hands on same table--Player 1 was a solid TAG player, who definitely made calls like this routinely against players with a similar stack or lower. Also, had he been going off reads, he would have realized that Player 2 had shown on a couple occasions on making plays at pots on the flop with low PP or just draws.
This example obv does not apply to every situation, and yes Player 1 played this pretty unconventionally, and we might think we would never make a similar mistake, but I've seen people routinely get out of their game when playing against the overwhelming big stack at the table because they assume that the big stack = good player. You should always be able to be comfortable in playing the best possibly poker and making the best possible decisions at any poker table, or else you should not be playing at that table. For example, if the fact that you could get your stack of about $60 on a table busted by a $130 stack at a $50 Max table, influences your play against that $130 stack to the point that you're not comfortable enough to put all your money in the middle when you believe that you have the best hand (because you could bust), then you should not be playing at those stakes. If playing against the big stack influences your play differently in any possibly way and makes you go against your conventional reads/style--in a way that it would be a very negative hit to your game and profits--then you definitely need to move down in stakes to become comfortable enough to play within your BR.
If this post seems a bit repetitive at times, it's just because I completely have written this on the fly and havn't edited any of it so just forgive me for that. I just wanted to get a point across on something I've been noticing a lot at the tables, and not in online poker. In live play at even the 1/2 or 2/5 tables here in Vegas, I see people play differently to a big stack because they're afraid of getting busted or afraid that the big stack is a "great" player. Anyways, hope this helps you in the future if you just read all this. I should probably try to edit this and make it a bit more readable, but I'm tired at the moment so I'm just going to go to sleep.
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