Originally Posted by
Jayjami
Dan:
Not surprising that you didn't cash after being the chip leader halfway through day one of the $1500 LH event. Unlike no limit, getting an early lead isn't much an advantage. As the blinds go up (particularly on day 2), the stacks seem to equalize relative to the blinds. The difference between a big stack and a small one is only about 3 extra hands. I finished 2nd in the event in 2011 and was the small stack at the start of the final table. I got the chip lead when we we were down to 3, but the blinds were so high, it only took a couple of losing hands to equalize the chips again. I never had an above average stack the entire tournament, until we were down to 5 players. IMHO, it is much more important to gradually increase your stack relative to the blinds through solid play. In a limit event, I couldn't care less if I win one hand in the 1st 4 hours. Eventually you will need to get a rush of cards, but the later in the tournament, the better. In the words of Tom McEvoy, "you have to give yourself a chance to get lucky". You may disagree with me, but I've had a lot of success in limit hold'em tournaments over the past 20 years, mostly playing smaller events.
I wasn't able to play the event the last 2 years, but I'll be at the Rio on June 20. Enjoy your forum. Good luck. I hope you finish second!
