1. How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Board
2. How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Rules
3. How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Table
4. How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Game

Correctly Playing A Big Stack In A Poker Tournament Can Make The Difference Between A Mere Cash And A Huge Score – We Look At Some Common Big Stack Errors Here!

Poker tournaments are supposed to be won, not just given to you. Time and time again you see top-quality players with large stacks abusing their opponents en route to a victory. With this stack. This is a good way to make sure you remain a big stack in a poker tournament and avoid risking a ton of chips. Also, as a big stack in a poker tournament you want to be feared by other players. By using a 3 bet before the flop, a lot of the time you will accomplish this goal.

First hand of a tournament with 15,000 chip starting stacks. You’re in a heads-up pot on the river, holding 4♥3♥ on a board of K♠2♥A♥6♣8♠. There’s 10,000 in the pot, and both you and your opponent have 10,000 chips behind. You missed your draw and have no shot of winning the pot at showdown. Correctly Playing A Big Stack In A Poker Tournament Can Make The Difference Between A Mere Cash And A Huge Score – We Look At Some Common Big Stack Errors Here! Successfully turning a big chip stack into a big final table score is one of the things which differentiate great tournament players from the field.

Successfully turning a big chip stack into a big final table score is one of the things which differentiate great tournament players from the field. This article looks at 5 common errors made with a big chip stack during poker tournaments and shows you how to avoid them!

Big Stack Poker Tournament Play – Error #1 – Over-Relaxing

Time and time again players build a decent stack during the early stages and then take their foot off of the gas too soon. Before you know it you have allowed several of your opponents to catch up – seriously reducing your ability to put pressure on the rest of the table. Keeping up your momentum and drive to accumulate more chips is a key factor in making a big score in poker tournament play.

Big Stack Poker Tournament Play – Error #2 – Too Much Calling

Since it is (relative to your stack) ‘cheap’ to see a flop, many players with big stacks will call too many bets in the hope of hitting a solid flop, further compounding this by choosing easily dominated hands to do it with. While calling has its place in a balanced strategy, you should be looking to be the aggressor in hands where possible. Taking the initiative against players who know you can bust them will allow you to win many pots without a showdown – calling just ends up building pots when you have slightly the worst of it.

Big Stack Poker Tournament Play – Error #3 – Effective Stack Sizes

When deciding on the best play it is the stack sizes of your opponents which are often the critical factor. For example, you have built a 200 big blind deep stack and each opponent remaining in the hand has 15 blinds or less – here your maximum gain from a single opponent are those 15 blinds. This means that your decision to raise, call or shove should be based on the smaller amount, even though you have a lot of chip the ‘effective’ stack in play can only equal those of your opponents.

Big Stack Poker Tournament Play – Error #4 – Bubble Pressure

Putting pressure on opponents at the money bubble or final table bubble is a pleasure. However big stack mistakes are made here too. Common errors include calling raises from mid-stacks with weak hands (since they are often unwilling to raise you here without a strong holding). Failing to raise when folded to is also an error – those blinds and antes are there for the taking, make sure you use the bubble to accumulate as many as possible!

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Big Stack Poker Tournament Play – Error #5 – Not Respecting Other Big Stacks

While you should, generally speaking, look to take any positive expectation situation that arises – it is often prudent to avoid confronting other big stacks in the late stages of a tournament. The concept is that you are in a great position to exploit the smaller and medium stacks, and risking busting while conditions are this favorable requires an extra equity edge. Simply showing some respect to the other big stacks can leave you in a great position to go after the ‘scared money’ during the late stages instead.

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What are poker blinds ?

Based on the limit of the poker game the player to the left of the dealer’s button (small blind) and the player two to the left of the dealer (big blind) are required to place mandatory bets in the pot before cards are dealt (Small blind has to put half of the big blinds amount). These bets count toward the first round of betting. So if the pot is not raised pre-flop, small blind will only have to put half a bet to call and big blind has the option of raising or just checking.

In a poker tournament, blinds go up gradually. This is to ensure that the tournament finishes on a timely manner. (the higher the blinds get the more players tend to get eliminated).

Blinds usually go up after predetermined periods of time. (for example every 15 or 20 minutes).

How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Board

Two main factors determine blind structure of the game:

• Starting chip amount
• How long you want the tournament to last.

How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Rules

Poker Blind Structure Tips

• The first big blind should be 1/50 of the starting chip amount. (or the starting chip amount should be 50 times the starting big blind). So if everyone starts with 1000 in chips the first big blind should be 10/20.
• Blind period is the time each blind lasts:
• Typical tournament blind periods are 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60 minutes.
• Blinds period should be the same for every blind.

• The faster the blind period is the faster the tournament ends and the more luck involves. So it’s a good idea to have slightly longer blind periods at your house game. 15 or 20 minute blind periods are good choices. Blinds in online websites tend to go up faster. This is because online poker action is much faster than live poker.
• Blinds typically double after each round. If the first big blind is 10/20, the next one should be 20/40.

Calculate Blind Structure

How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Table

Follow these simple steps to create blind structure that best fits your game:

• Decide your starting chip amount.
• Divide it by 50. This should be your first big blind.
• Make your final big blind (when the tournament should finish) equal to your starting chip amount.
• Arrange the middle level blinds so that they gradually increase from your first big blind to the last one. It is best to keep the first couple blind periods low.
• Add the period (times) together. If it seems too long takes couple levels off the chart, and if it seems short add couple level to the chart.

Sample Tournament Blind Structure Chart

How To Stack Poker Chips In A Tournament Game

Following is a chart of recommended blind structures based on different starting chip stacks :