Poker tournament articles
When you're playing in a tournament your stack of chips is your primary weapon. At the same time it's under constant attack from the other players. This makes the size of your stack a very important factor in the game. If it's big you can use it to scare opponents out of pots, if it's small you will be put under pressure by dominant opponents. In poker luck is a major ingredient and the turn of a card may either hurt you really bad or send a huge pot your way. But whatever situation you might find yourself in there are strategies to apply.
When you're short stacked you have to be careful and takes less risks. If you make a mistake the consequences might be disastrous. Generally you should wait for a really strong hand before get heavily involved in the action. On the other hand a small stack offers good bluffing opportunities. If you make a big bet the other players are likely to think that you're holding a strong hand and might throw their cards away. However, if someone calls your bluff you're in big trouble and might be eliminated from the tournament. Because of this you should only try to bluff players that will be significantly hurt if they lose the hand. A player with a huge stack might call with the hope of knocking you out.
Medium sized stacks are difficult to handle. In your attempts to become a dominant force in the game you might take hits and suddenly find yourself short stacked. When you are in this position you should generally play more hands against small stacks since they will be careful and unwilling to risk their chips. You need a really strong hand to take on a big stack. Remember that the other players will be aware of your strive to enlarge your stack. Given the opportunity they will take advantage of your aggressive play and trap you.
If your stack is big you should use it to put pressure on your less fortunate opponents. A pot that would mean life or death for them might be quite harmless to you. This obviously gives you a lot of room for bluffing and risk taking and that is something that you should take full advantage off. Bet, raise and re-raise to scare the other players into folding.
Note that the stage the tournament is in affect the way you handle each stack size. Read more about this in the section called "The different stages of a poker tournament".
