11th out of 135– a chance to play a WPT

I played in a satellite at Bay 101 for a chance to play in the WPT that was part of the shooting stars tournament earlier this year. 1st and 2nd were paid $5,500 including a seat in the WPT that was taped the next day.

Here's my question:
I played a bit conservative untill we got down to two tables. At this point I started pushing pots, stealing blinds but by the time we were down to 15 players I was short chip on the table. A friend and dealer at the casino told me later I should have taken more chances when we were down to 20-30 players. He indicated that I needed more chips by the time we were down to 2 tables and that was my mistake. Now, I trust his opinion because I've seen him get to the final table a few times. I think I did pretty good getting 11th out of 135 players. Although I can't but wonder what would have happened if I had a bigger chip lead when we were down to two tables.

Opinions appreciated.

Having played a lot of online tournaments mostly freerolls it must be said, your friend has it right

If you want to finish off well you need the chips, sure it can be done without them but then you need the cards.

Having finished second out of 200 2 weeks ago I was chip leader with about 40ish to go. When you build up a bigger stack and you are getting down to the business end of the tournament, you will find a lot of people will tighten up.

This is due to them not wanting to get knocked out and usually sneak into the money. Now this is the time to start making moves and stealing pots and raising.

The advantage you will have when you have more chips is that people won't won't to play against you cause you have enough chips to knock them out. You can also afford to raise the blinds a lot more often, specially the shorter stacks out there. This also can have the benefit of them trying to protect their blinds and make a move with their short stack in order to double up and stay in. If they do this they will usually have weaker cards than they like and you can often bust them out. This means less players so closer to the prize and also more chips for you ;]

The other side to it is they want to last as long as possible so just hand the chips over. The one thing to bear in mind is though not to tussle with the other large stacks without a premium hand. You can still be crippled rather easily, don't be afraid to let pots go if you have plenty of chips. At this point its easy to steal some blinds and antes to get them back if you are patient.

The larger stack will also allow you to sit out and fold a few rounds letting other people battle it out. Pick your moments. Having a shorter stack means the blinds and antes will always be nabbing at you and the larger stacks will try to bully you. If your getting low on chips don't leave it too late to start making moves. If you do then you will find yourself just folding to try and outlast other low stacks, you might sneak in the money but its the 1st 2nd and 3rd spots that usually have the largest percentage of the prize pool.

Congratulations on getting so far.

I'd like to point out... what he said is right you should have build up a larger pot so that in the final few rounds against the big boys, you had more to play with. It could have made all the difference. Have you ever got that far in a tournament before? It's all part of the learning experience, as you get further and further through tournaments you realise how to improve for next time. 11th is pretty damn impressive though, well played.

11th out of 135! That is good

I think it's probably correct that you needed more chips going into two tables than you had. It's important not to be short stack on the final table. If you're short stack then you're going to just get pushed out quickly.

it is always best to find a medium to win ur chips...not early in the tourney, not late

having the short stack at the end of a tournament is definitely a big disadvantage. eventually the blinds alone are going to get to you. its important once you get close to the payday to steal some blinds against everyone else who is playing tight just to squeek in. those blinds you stole could come up huge for you later on.

Often made the same mistakes, but the good cards do not always come.
Although there have been a case where the last place in only 4 or 5 hands I became the chip leader, but I was not always so lucky.

2005 poker. Those were the days.