This is especially true if you hold blockers to big hands. Even though you are typically playing passively against the chip leader, you can still bluff some of the time when your draws miss and your opponent’s range does not connect well with the board. With weaker draws such as gutshots, you can often call a small c-bet on the flop. Your play will often continue to be passive against the chip leader in many spots in an attempt to play smaller pots. Like most Big Blind defense scenarios, you typically start by checking to the raiser.

This final table spot significantly changes both your preflop and postflop play. Your defense range in the Big Blind is narrower than it would be if there were no pay jumps. The chip leader on the Button can open raise preflop with a much wider range than normal because of this pressure you are facing. This pressure is often called “ICM” pressure, named for the Independent Chip Model method of assigning real dollar values to chip stacks in tournaments. You are highly incentivized to avoid getting stacked while the 2 shorter stacks are still alive at this final table, since they are far more likely to bust out before you. This week you’re playing at a major final table where you are defending the Big Blind as a medium stack against the chip leader at the table.ĭue to the presence of the 2 shorter stacks at the table and pay jumps, there is significant pressure on you in this spot.

Wpt poker chip values