Is Average Stack Important in Tournament Play?

Is this number - the average stack size - in tournaments important for the play ? I hear it often from players, i´m above average stack or below and so on... i wouldn´t say, it´s a useless statistic, but in my opinion the average stack is not so important like the M (Harrington) or the effective blinds (including antes) or other numbers..

Stack sizes are always important. "Average" stack size just isn't very specific which makes it less helpful.
M is a way to measure your stack size that is more specific and therefore helpful.
Effective stack sizes can be critical information - but the term effective just defines the measurement and is not the measurement itself.

So yeah, I think you're right - "average" or "small" or "big" are all non-specific and relative terms that will never be as useful as having the actual measurements to work with.

Yes you´re right, but i mean the concrete specific average stack size in the tourney lobbys...

Daniel72 said:

Is this number - the average stack size - in tournaments important for the play ? I hear it often from players, i´m above average stack or below and so on... i wouldn´t say, it´s a useless statistic,.

Click to expand...

I'd say it's pretty close to useless & more often than not, when someone's giving a scenario for a hand or spot in tourney & they're mentioning "I'm just above average stack in tourney" (or below.. or whatever) it doesn't have alot of significance.

MediaBLITZ said:

So yeah, I think you're right - "average" or "small" or "big" are all non-specific and relative terms that will never be as useful as having the actual measurements to work with.

Click to expand...

they have no relevance as it doesn't form a basis for much change/adjustment in our play.

For something to be meaningful, it has to have an effect on how you (should) play. Average stack size in a tournament doesn't fit this criterion very often at all.

The average stack does help by telling you generally how much play i left in the tourney. Ie if the average stack is 50BB's then everyone is still pretty deep. If the average is 10BB's then you know its now shovefest time

Ducky7 said:

The average stack does help by telling you generally how much play i left in the tourney. Ie if the average stack is 50BB's then everyone is still pretty deep. If the average is 10BB's then you know its now shovefest time

Click to expand...

So if players on 'our' table are sitting with 30-50bb stacks (but tourney avg. is 10) it's shovefest time?

Personally I live knowing whether im above/below average but it doesnt affect tournament play much.

However, turbo and hyper-turbo tourneys where the avg stack is about 10BB means your shoving range can be slightly tighter when in the danger zone but its only slight.

Poker Orifice said:

So if players on 'our' table are sitting with 30-50bb stacks (but tourney avg. is 10) it's shovefest time?

Click to expand...

Well obviously not but it gives you a general idea of how the rest of the tournament is playing... Obviously if everyone on our table is 30 bigs + then its irrelevant and we lucky to not be on a shovefest table

Poker Orifice said:

I'd say it's pretty close to useless & more often than not, when someone's giving a scenario for a hand or spot in tourney & they're mentioning "I'm just above average stack in tourney" (or below.. or whatever) it doesn't have alot of significance.

Click to expand...

i disagree somewhat, people play looser v and with a below average stack, and alot of fish will (incorrectly) nit up when they bink and are 4x av. (irrespective of stack depth).

basically it shouldnt really have a bearing on your game, but others often let it change their ranges

Honestly, I ignore that number. The numbers I focus more on are the chip leader, the 2 chip leaders at my table and anyone under 10x bb. The chip leader is so I know how quickly things are moving. Without first beating your own table, no one else matters.

Ignore it...

Sometimes if its a satellite it might be useful to know where the cutoff is around...but other than that, its overrated imo.

About the only thing I use that is remotely close to average stack is what the average stack will be for final table. I calculate this at start of tourney - multiply number of players by starting stack then divide by number of seats at final table.
This kind of gives me a magic number that I can target to tell myself I have enough to reach FT. It doesn't really affect my play that much - until...

About all it's good for is deciding on coin flips - if I am above that number I am less likely to involve myself in an all in coin flip situation. If I am half that number with two or three tables left a coin flip looks a lot more appealing.