Attacking the Big Stack with Sorel Mizzi

Most players in tournaments try and avoid the big stack at the table.

This is mainly because they can bust you, whereas you can't bust them - which gives them a sizable psychological and practical edge over you.

They also effectively have more than one bullet in the chamber, and the fact that you can't knock them out enables them to open their game up, safe in the knowledge that even if they get in a tricky spot, it won't cost them everything.

Although this is for the most part correct, often big stacks throw up a range of opportunities to accumulate chips if you can identify their mood and tendencies.

The key thing to remember about big stacks is that often they are either looking to protect their chips at all costs, or start playing far too loose. Most players with a big stack either seem to open their game up too much, or tighten up by too great a margin.

Loose big stacks provide great opportunities to re-steal from, as they are generally looking to just accumulate chips without showdown, and can be stolen from quite easily if identified.

Tight big stacks (particularly tight passive big stacks) also provide excellent opportunities to attack. As most players will tend to leave a big stack's blind alone, it will get folded to you first much more often on a big stacks blind, which leaves you able to open more frequently.

Against passive big stacks, who regularly defend their blinds, you will often end up playing nice size pots, against a bad player, all with position - clearly a good situation.

Mizzi knows a thing or two about playing the big stack.

There are actually very few players who can play a big stack well. Most tend to either speed up or slow down far too much, and this throws up great opportunities for skilled players to attack.

This effect is amplified by the fact that your hands always seem to be much stronger to the opposition when you open into big stacks - they feel that you simply would not do that without a big hand and behave accordingly.

This means that other players will hardly ever re-steal from you when you open on big stacks' big blinds, leaving you free to go for the big stack.

Winning tournaments requires a player to look for every available spot to accumulate chips. Big stacks provide numerous spots to win pots, and it is important that you don't miss these moments just because you are intimidated by them having more chips than you.

Identify how they play and go after them relentlessly - it may well be that they are not going to be a big stack for very long.

-- Sorel Mizzi

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