Crossroads

I am again reading up on chip utility. My conclusion is that the larger the field, the more important this becomes. In a 3 table MTT, I think I can play good decision poker and come out ahead. But in large MTT field, I feel like I have to play more based on utility. Its interesting to note that the European lads that dominated this year at the WSOP were post-flop, out-play you types and not the more traditional out-last you types. This is a chance from earlier years where there was reckless abandon to acquire a big stack and wield it for pressure. This was much more of a accumulate chips and wield it for value. I don't want to rewrite books here, so you can read up on chip utility elsewhere. But...

In the past, I have always had problems emulating American big stack players. Now I know why. I could never play loose enough to build a big stack. And even when I did, the pressure I applied only seems to diminish the large stack (I even recall this year players with a big stack loosing it very quickly). So I never played this style.

But now that I have been exposed to a better way to do this (utility and value), I find myself playing differently in big fields. I understand the watermark of the green zone in not an M of 20 in a large field, but rather an M of 40 is what I want. Once I have 40-60 BB in my stack, I can see any flop I want with position, and I have my full arsenal of moves available. Below that, and its premium card poker.

Why is this so important to me? Well, once someone ELSE at your table has accumulated this utility, they can roll-over the table forcing pressure on you without playing all-in poker. That in turn, allows then to pick up some smaller pots easier and pick up additional chips they otherwise would have to fight harder for.