High stack - loose or tight???

Hello all.

What are your thoughts on this.

I have played a few times on Ladbrokes high stack - 5000 starting chips, starting blinds 10/20, 15 min blinds.

Some people suggest "play tight, you have enough chips to wait" others say "loosen up early on, you have plenty of chips to play with.

Be interested to know where you guys stand on this

i usually try to play tight at the beginning of any game. it lets the donks take each other out unless you get phenominal hand to play with

pokerrqueenn said:

i usually try to play tight at the beginning of any game. it lets the donks take each other out unless you get phenominal hand to play with

Click to expand...

There's another very opposite school of thought which is that you want to see a lot of flops early on especially because the donks will take each other out. The donks are giving out tons of chips early on, and these chips may be harder to get later because, in general, stronger players will have them. I can't say either way is truly "right"... a matter of preferences and playing to your strengths. If you think you're a good enough post-flop player and will be able to correctly get away from hands your opponents wouldn't be able to, seeing many flops with high-potential hands (PPs, suited connectors, etc) can pay dividends

I am loose when I have position. I will limp with alot of suited connectors or 1 gap cards. That is when you can get the odds to chase on these hands without too much fear of someone bombing all-in and forcing you to fold. I don't mind doing it because it can allow you to get ahead in chips and then start to bully as a big stack in the middle rounds of the game. No risk, no reward.

It depends on your chip swing ability. If you don't mind losing some chips early chasing you can play loose. If you fret over every single chip you have then you should play tight.

titans4ever said:

It depends on your chip swing ability. If you don't mind losing some chips early chasing you can play loose. If you fret over every single chip you have then you should play tight.

Click to expand...

Is that what its called `chip swing ability`

That is me. When I`m in a tourny I hate to fall too much below my starting stack. If I catch early I normaly hit the big bucks!!!

ablility, tolerance.... I don't think there is a clear name for it. I have played enough that I don't mind loosing 1/4 to 1/3 of my stack early. To me the benefits if I hit outweigh the risks of dropping some early.

Ronaldadio said:

Is that what its called `chip swing ability`

That is me. When I`m in a tourny I hate to fall too much below my starting stack. If I catch early I normaly hit the big bucks!!!

Click to expand...

Dont worry about falling back to much with your stack, for instance, at bodog you can fold every hand for the first hour and still have between 800 and 1,000 chips, and dont forget, by then the blinds are bigger and you can get rite back in the game by just winning 1 pot,,, i still do what you do once in a while, and i know better, and sometimes it costs me the game.
buck

They hit both sides of the coin spot on. So now it's just up to you to decide where you feel most comfortable. Both ways will get you to the $.

so im very good friends with a former poker pro and the advice he gave me is similar. chip swing is the main thing and you have to be able to conquer that. but generally you want to be more of a tight/ agressive player, although there is never an exactly "right" answer. You just have to consider all the options like blinds, your opponents, position, and your bluffing ability. one other thing is that no matter how many chips you start with the thing to remember is that so did everyone else and you really dont have any advantage or disadvantages on any other player other than your skill. Good Luck

I would play tight until you get a solid hand and rake in a hefty pot since you do have 5k in starting chips. But in other circumstances like 1k starting or 1.5k starting chips in a tourney, I would sit on those chips until you pick up a great hand and double through and then use position to sneak in those bets to steal the blinds with your doubled stack. And if you get more chips, then you can tighten up again and let all of the the crazies knock eachother out which also puts pressure on you to play some marginal hands before blinds and a pay day come your way.

I wait for top hands AK,KQ,KJ, suited and all those lovely face card combo's. It's hand's these It's fun to limp in on with these huge stacks watch the donk's bluff push em in and let them ride ...Out of the tourney that is. THere is no excuse for playing weak hands. No matter hwo many chips you have.

I was reading an article last night by Barny Boatman.

He said that really you should attempt to accumulate chips stright from the off.

Deeper into the tournament life becomes more difficult as people are less inclined to gamble.