Small chip stack can lead to a big payday if you play smartly

I recently traveled to Montreal to play in a $5,300-buy-in World Poker Tour event at the Playground Poker Club. The tournament, which was hosted by Party Poker, featured a $5 million guarantee.

The first level of Day 1 went amazingly well. I doubled my 40,000-chip starting stack by winning all sorts of small and medium-sized pots. From there, I went card-dead, and then in the middle of Day 2, disaster struck.

With blinds at 600-1,200, a tight player raised to 3,000 from first position, and another tight player in second position called. I decided to just call with Ac Kc, looking to flop well and avoid a potential preflop cooler, given that both of my opponents likely had strong ranges. The big blind called as well.

The flop came Kd Jh 10s, giving me top pair and top kicker. The initial raiser bet 5,000 into a pot of 12,600, and I was the only caller. There was no point raising because the only hands that would stick around would be the premium hands that beat me.

The turn was the 6h. My opponent bet 7,000, and I once again called. As on the flop, there was no point raising because the only hands I’d get all in against would have me crushed.

The river was the 4c. My opponent bet 10,000 into a pot of 36,600, and I called. My opponent tabled Jc Js and collected a good-sized pot.

This left me with only 7,000 in chips, but I didn’t give up. I played carefully with my tiny stack and ensured that I got my chips into the pot in profitable situations. After stealing the blinds only a few times, I managed to double my chip stack without getting called, and then I started jamming all in once people raised.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I did not play maniacally or recklessly. I looked for spots where I expected my opponents to have weaker ranges than normal, and then I pounced. I somehow managed to turn my stack of six big blinds into a stack of 40 big blinds without ever seeing a showdown.

But then, again, disaster struck, and I found myself with only 12 big blinds after losing with Q- Q against A-K. Again, I remained calm and patiently hung around until I found a few decent hands. Time flew by, and eventually I found myself bagging my chips going to Day 4, safely in the money with a decent-size chip stack remaining.

I continued to battle but busted in eighth place out of the 792 players who entered, collecting a payout of $105,000. A lot of players would have simply given up when they had so few chips on Day 2 and again on Day 3. Instead of conceding when your tournament situation appears bleak, you should continue to play hard, because there’s always a chance to turn your “chip and a chair” into a sizable payday.