Bullying with the Big Stack

I was at a table where the big stack announce it was his job to take out the smaller stacks. Do you feel this way?

Having the most chips gives you an advantage. Taking people out of the tournament and accumulating chips is easier with the large stack.

I loosen up a little, but I don't do the bully-constant aggressive bluff thing. I get called and outdrawn way too much lol
I consider them a gift really. Unless they suck out

I think the closer you get to the money, the easier it is to bully with a big stack, especially with middle stacks. Short stacks are more likely to call if they have a decent hand since they have little to lose when calling. I wouldn’t want to go psycho though - for same reason that dizzydeb would say.

It certainly make sense to loosen up as the chip leader and put pressure on shorter stacks especially in clear ICM-situations. Like there are 6 left, one player has a huge chip lead, 3 players have a middling stack, and 2 guys are very short. In that situation the middling stacks really dont want to bust before the short stacks, so they can be pushed around quite a bit.

Playing with a big glass is good because in most draws I will only risk a small part of my stack. Based on this, there is maximum freedom of choice. I feel more confident. Unlike a small stack, I can afford to play more combinations, to bet on each street. I don't need to bluff, I need a good post-flop skill.

Basically, with big stack you are supposed to open-bet more often pre-flop and maybe call IP more often.
Now that doesn't mean you are supposed to start playing hands like 53s just cause u have chips cause that way u will lose the stack in no time.

Small stabs at the pot, small bets, small attempts to take the pot as early in the hand as possible.
Having big stack also doesn't mean that you should call other people's shoves with bad hands, 55s are still not gonna do good against majority of the shoving ranges from players, regardless of you having more chips then them.

This would be the short answer IMO, but honestly, it's a good subject and a lot can be said about this

Also, take a look at this video and this thread:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/playing-big-stack-poker-tournaments-435301/

I personally didn't like it much as I stated in my post at the beginning of the thread, so check it all out and figure for yourself what you think suits your gameplay better.

Bozovicdj said:

Having big stack also doesn't mean that you should call other people's shoves with bad hands, 55s are still not gonna do good against majority of the shoving ranges from players, regardless of you having more chips then them.

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Exactly. The whole point of having a big stack is, you can get more fold equity, because you threaten the tournament life of other players. But when someone is already all in, there is obviously no fold equity and therefore also no reason to adjust your calling range. As the chipleader its not your job to bust short stacks. On the contrary it benefit you, that they keep hanging around, because it sort of handcuff the middling stacks.

Big stack hints to succeed in prizes. Re-raise to do left and right as difficult. 4-5 BB preflop. a little baffling hands with garbage. Waiting for a premium hand is still forced.

Having a big stack allows you to play a little bit differently than you would with a smaller stack. You have the chips to put a small stack all in whenever you want. It is a powerful tool to have. You have to pick your spots carefully.

I think you can be the bully until the table is revealed. If they start paying your bets or worse, to re-raise, it's time to change your strategy. Hopefully you can realize before losing many chips.

I try not to make any fancy plays with a big stack but sometimes I just can’t help myself and inevitably get sucked out. I end up between both ends a few times in the same tournament because idk balance(or I get sucked out). Which is fine since that’s part of the game.

Amanda A said:

I was at a table where the big stack announce it was his job to take out the smaller stacks. Do you feel this way?

In a tourney, how important do you think it is to bully others when you are the big stack? Do you try other plays that you would not normally do? eg 3 street bluffs? What do you do differently when you are the big stack?​

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Yes, to some extent it is the bigstack's "responsibility". But it is also the correct way to play with that many chips....for the most part. If the tournament structure is a Bounty Tournament...then it is definitely the profitable way to play.

Otherwise there will be another one or two bigstacks developing at your table. The idea of picking up more chips (even small amounts) is to deny the table the value of those chips.

The big change for me as a bigstack is to try to be involved in a lot more hands. Either raising or even limping if the table will allow it.

Fortunately or unfortunately I don't need to be a bigstack to try a 3-street bluff LOL

Good luck !

I like to put a partial responsibility

freestocks said:

Having the most chips gives you an advantage. Taking people out of the tournament and accumulating chips is easier with the large stack.

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Adding to what Freestocks said, let’s say you are at the final table with a mid size stack and there’s a few small stacks and one Monster stack.

Yes I do want the monster stack to clear the table for me.

1. I get pay jumps
2. Heads up is better than a four way pot.

And as far as having a large stack I am a bit looser but I don’t think your strategy should change too much if these are the early stages. Just keep building your stack the way you know how to

If your goal is to win the tournament, you have to play it that way.

Amanda A said:

I was at a table where the big stack announce it was his job to take out the smaller stacks. Do you feel this way?

In a tourney, how important do you think it is to bully others when you are the big stack? Do you try other plays that you would not normally do? eg 3 street bluffs? What do you do differently when you are the big stack?​

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Yes to a certain point Ill give it breaks cause somebody will have you beat but it really comes down to the other stack sizes and player tendencies

If they fold a lot yes

If not definitely not too much


Basically can you get away with it?

I called them chip dicks there's no more satisfying feeling not even winning then watching a chip dick get his ass handed to him after betting 8 9 10 12 hands in a row super high and you or a new player come to the table with maybe as many chips are a little less and just totally wipes him out ...I was in a game on betonline and everybody's average stack was about 200,000 this one guy had a million he tried to be a chip dick and needless to say we cut into his stack quite a bit... when I got off the table which he beat me he was at half of thatt...I had one hand where I just took maybe three or four thousand for them and ended up 4th that tournament and won some about you know close to a hundred bucks

big stack

dont agree at all - its not anyones job to take out shortstacks! however in a bounty tournaments you should in a normal tournament not.

that said if you are big stack (not chip leader - meaning shortstack are a small percentage of your stack) you should try to utilize it. several things you should do and depending on where in tournament you are together with the table you sit at.
beginning of tournament /big blinds are small compared to most stacks on the table it is hard to try utilize your stack
middle of tournament when blinds start grinding the middle stacks try dominate and bet preflop and get up against shortstacks allin solo or middle stacks solo. shortstacks will call with lesser hands and will often try limp in to see flop - all in on a solo shortstack on basically anything if they try limp in. shortstack will typically have a lesser hand suited connected or small pocket pair and you will get 50-50 percent iof winning or highregardless your hand (Q8 is middle hand meanning statistically you win 50 percent vs a random hand) but loosing dont cost you a big portion of your stack. bet on middle stack player prefloop and flop the middle player calling likely have hit a hand and unless you got a hand fold but most likely they fold.
end of tournament go hard to steal short stacks blinds and super tight middle stacks in position and preferable only play strong hands

special window is time just before itm - steal blinds hard especially on short stacks!

in general depends a lot on players at your table and stack variation together with position.

sometimes you sit at tables easy to dominate - other times very hard but you have to determinate which table you sit at and play accordingly, and pick on the right ones. but dominating corretly middle tournament and end tournament helps getting you to the final table

Having the big stack is a huge advantage. Doesn't mean you should go crazy looking to push everyone around though. Pick your spots and pick the right stack sizes to bully.

A common trap I see some overly aggro players fall into is they just make any call with ATC cuz they think their stack is so big they can afford to gamble to see if they can knock out a SS.

Still gotta make smart plays even though you have a big stack.

Actually, picking on short stacks is not the way to go. You should pick on the medium stacks. You can rob them blind because they do not have the stack size to 3bet and their stack size is too big to jam.

When they do jam it's an easy fold.

If you steal from short stacks then you are forced to call all-in shoves, but you will always be an underdog against their shoving range.

fickleberry said:

Actually, picking on short stacks is not the way to go. You should pick on the medium stacks. You can rob them blind because they do not have the stack size to 3bet and their stack size is too big to jam.

When they do jam it's an easy fold.

If you steal from short stacks then you are forced to call all-in shoves, but you will always be an underdog against their shoving range.

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Word to the wise!

I identify weak players at the table and take away their chips.

Big Stack Bully doesn't just mean you have the most chips at your table. It means your stack is so large that most of the table fears tangling with you.
1. Increase your bet sizes (4-5 bb)
2. Expand your range
3. Keep up the pressure
4. Watch out for other big stacks
5. Stay smart

its good to throw caution to the wind when your the big stack, especially in NLHE. Usually when im the big stack at the table, and i win another hand, ill get moved to another table with other big stacks, and when someone has a bigger stack than you, your always at risk of busting. Too many times ive had QQ or better pre flop, got the chips in and lost to the one guy with a bigger stack, who got there with his 1 of 3 outs