Maintaining chip lead

[Tyreece]

Hey! Been playing a lot of tournaments lately and have noticed i frequently find myself leading in chips for majority of the tournament and busting nearing the end of the tournament, never being able to take it out, this has been a reoccurring pattern and was curious to know if I should be playing more aggressive (ie opening, 3 betting more etc.) or should I be tightening my range slightly to avoid any unnecessary beats, when chip leader. Thanks in advance!

 

[YuriDitz]

Hi, if I become a chip leader, I try to play more aggressively, bluffing against players with short stacks and taking their chips.

 

[NWPatriot]

I am not sure if you are talking about busing at the final table or just before bubble. But here are a few things I have noticed.

If we are talking about the final table, we have to realize that the players left at the final table may very well be the best players that entered the tournament. Of curse there can be a lucky player in there as well, but this says you have to play your "A" game here and there is no single answer.

If we are just talking about late stages, but not necessarily final table, one thing I have noticed is that sheer aggression is able to build a big stack, but it is not necessarily able to hold on to it. I have seen time and time again, that someone builds a great stack only to ship it off with a few bad decisions.

Both of these observations are really about the need for adaptability in poker. The game changes a lot during a tournament and the players that can adjust will do well. Cash games do not have this same issue since stack sizes are more stable.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[franken222]

Thanks for bringing this up.

I suffer from the same problem.

I start off great, stay in the top of chip leaders for a good part of a tournament, and then fizzle out.

And, like you, it happens often.

I'll be reading the replies with interest.

Good luck.

 

[Niykk]

Maintaining chip lead is complicated business. One should be taking into consideration position, stack size, hand strength, board texture, realized hand equity, pot odds, numbers of players in hand, how many limped, how many folded right away etc.

The simple answer is to fold 60-70% more often than normal, even premium starting hands, fold!

 

[eugenedav]

Rarely calling someone shove preflop just cause you have is not ideal. You want to see the flop for cheap not give away chips. Let them play your game call your shove when you're way ahead. Not you way behind preserve them chips be patient wait for a better spot to win. Do better than me I struggle with this too.

 

[63burner]

Getting stack by one method, can change it up..

A lot of times, a player gets the stack because they have the key cards to a hand, making a set, when board has potential draws that nobody hits, for example. It wasn't because you played necessarily LAG or TAG, you just went with it; playing smartly; open to good hands, without taking chances.
With a big stack, sure, take more chances, just remember regression to the norm; most times, you won't hit that perfect card, so always leave a little behind, don't put it all on one hand.

 

[perrywh]

Sounds like your playing at betonline!

 

[Lupus]

Hey! Been playing a lot of tournaments lately and have noticed i frequently find myself leading in chips for majority of the tournament and busting nearing the end of the tournament, never being able to take it out, this has been a reoccurring pattern and was curious to know if I should be playing more aggressive (ie opening, 3 betting more etc.) or should I be tightening my range slightly to avoid any unnecessary beats, when chip leader. Thanks in advance!

Love this question. Constantly find myself with the chip lead at some point but losing them all to a bad decision or suck out.
I try to play even more tight but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't

 

[nutself]

Usually it takes a lot of gambles to become the chip leader, plus it is difficult to maintain it without even more gambles, and it is almost impossible to win every coin flip, therefore I think it is normal to lose chip lead and there is no good solution to this problem.

 

[SpaceMage]

My advice would be to head over to the play money tables once and awhile after studing up on the various strategies and trying them out there. Less of a risk to your bankroll and so you can make bad decisions and see how they affect your gameplay.

Regularly get to the final table in a play money tournament and you've improved your gameplay without that much of an expensive outlay.

Some people say the play money players are just as good as the real money players as they are playing play money because the can not play online in their own country.

 

[mariale_1990]

This happens to me a lot, but above all it happens to me that I accumulate many chips from the beginning of the tournament and I always have enough chips to reach prizes, but something happens to me that I am very close to reaching ITM, recently everything I played I was in the bubble, I basically stopped playing for like 1-2 weeks

 

[Holdem Tycoon]

I am not sure if you are talking about busing at the final table or just before bubble. But here are a few things I have noticed.

If we are talking about the final table, we have to realize that the players left at the final table may very well be the best players that entered the tournament. Of curse there can be a lucky player in there as well, but this says you have to play your "A" game here and there is no single answer.

If we are just talking about late stages, but not necessarily final table, one thing I have noticed is that sheer aggression is able to build a big stack, but it is not necessarily able to hold on to it. I have seen time and time again, that someone builds a great stack only to ship it off with a few bad decisions.

Both of these observations are really about the need for adaptability in poker. The game changes a lot during a tournament and the players that can adjust will do well. Cash games do not have this same issue since stack sizes are more stable.

Good luck and God bless.

Precise and concise.

 

[Clutchdenier]

This sounds like adaptability and adjustment of strategy once you are a big stack. Charlie Carrel is a big proponent of stack preservation and having a large stack allows you to run deeper into tournaments. Aggression can get you there but inversely the outcome of building a stack allows gives you the opportunity to be more selective with your spots and take lesser variance routes to maintaining/increasing your position into the tournament. I try to remember the fact that - You can only win the tournament when there are only 2 of you left!


This may also be an ego thing - other players on the table are allowed to play and win hands as well which can be something easily forgotten when running a table over

 

[nuttea]

Hey! Been playing a lot of tournaments lately and have noticed i frequently find myself leading in chips for majority of the tournament and busting nearing the end of the tournament, never being able to take it out, this has been a reoccurring pattern and was curious to know if I should be playing more aggressive (ie opening, 3 betting more etc.) or should I be tightening my range slightly to avoid any unnecessary beats, when chip leader. Thanks in advance!

If the number of chips behind your back is 45bb or more, you can afford to play normal poker. Your attention is given to a lot of different tricks: resteal and bluff 4 bet, calling in position and playing speculative hands and low pocket pairs. In other words, just play your A-game, because the number of chips in no way holds you back. But don't forget to watch your stack size! Be prepared to rebuild if the blinds go up or if you lose a couple of hands your stack shrinks and becomes less comfortable.

 

[peaceofcoke]

I think not being cocky and trying to go after every pot is key to keeping your stack and not losing a lot of chips, as for the chip leader it really doesnt matter if I am 1st 4th at FT, what matters most for most players is the m ratio that has to be healthy enough to carry on playing

 

[testing826]

most times i dont try to maintaine chip lead , i ok with top 5

 

[BlindThieve420]

I'm don't worry about holding a chip lead. I do care about my stack compared to others late in games.

 

[lcid86]

Have you reviewed number of hands played and seat position? Is something changing after you build your stack? More/less aggressive out of position?

 

[quick]

Came across this old thread while thinking about the same problem. I'll often get a big stack somewhere in the early to mid stages, sometimes loose a bunch, then grind back up in beginning of late stages. Sometimes even getting into the top 10 stacks of the tourney as it goes on.

But then like many of you, I'll start seeing my stack dwindle and next thing I know I'm from biggest stack to busted.

I agree with those saying to keep accumulating chips, picking good aggressive spots, and calling off short stacks shoving when it's just 1 v 1 in a pot.

So what I try to do is look at what happened when I go from big stack to busto. Was I just card dead or missing big draws? Was I just playing too wide and/or was I tangling with other big stacks too much? Or was I just losing multiple flips when all in ahead and that chipped away at my stack over a level or two. Can control , to some extent, the first two, but the third, well as much as it stings to lose a big stack , at least in those cases I played well and made correct plays.

Other things to consider are to see if you're playing too loose once you have a big stack (i.e. going overboard with winner's tilt and bullying the table too much or just seeing too many flops then you need to be). Or are you seeing the ITM coming soon (or already in it) and subconsciously figuring "well least I'll get something" leaving you on the opposite end and playing either super reckless or super nitty suddenly.

 

[Canaldo Kao]

Hi, if I become a chip leader, I try to play more aggressively, bluffing against players with short stacks and taking their chips.

 

[optikdave]

The best thing that ever happened to me was a lost connection after I built up a 2:1 chip lead with 3 tables remaining. By the time I got my connection back I was on the final table in 7th out of 9. The players ahead of me desperately tried to maintain their stack so I pushed and they folded . Before you know it I was heads up and ended up winning. Funny it was a free roll on juicy stakes 10 years ago and it was free entry due to my rake back. First place was $1800.00 GREAT! Unfortunately I was never able to collect.

 

[Emily Trott]

I don’t worry too much about it because poker is a game of ups and downs.

 

[jordanbillie]

Hey! Been playing a lot of tournaments lately and have noticed i frequently find myself leading in chips for majority of the tournament and busting nearing the end of the tournament, never being able to take it out, this has been a reoccurring pattern and was curious to know if I should be playing more aggressive (ie opening, 3 betting more etc.) or should I be tightening my range slightly to avoid any unnecessary beats, when chip leader. Thanks in advance!

To over generalize, I lean more towards chip preservation when I have a large stack. This shouldn't be misunderstood as playing overly tight, it just means that when faced with 50/50 spots I tend to save chips versus risking chips.

When chip leader, I look to "pick off" medium to short stacks by taking perceived 60/40s or better preflop. Ideally you are looking to take 60/40s or better with 25% or so of your stack, so the math will work out and you will simply accumulate/win.