Tournament Tactics: Stalling

Winning money in poker tournaments requires many skills and tactics. One tactic that is not often discussed is stalling during tournament play. Some people may be critical of stalling as a poker tactic. But, stalling for time it is a legitimate and accepted practice in sports like football and basketball and there is no reason for it to be criticized in poker. Stalling or wasting time should not be done without a reason, however. That is not fair to the other players. However, you should consider using time when you feel it is to your advantage to do so.

I like to think of there being 2 types of stalling tactics. One I refer to as “strategic” stalling, the other as “tactical”. A strategic stall is built into your long term tournament strategy and is designed to waste small amounts of time consistently. The situation that I feel this is most suited for is a re-buy tournament when you have decided you are not going to re-buy. Deciding not to re-buy means you will be placing yourself at a disadvantage during the re-buy period compared to those players who will re-buy. One major mistake or unlucky fall of the cards means you’ll be out. Your objective is to play as few hands as possible and “run out the clock” until the re-buy period is over. Once that occurs, the advantage of the re-buyers is over. The way to play as few hands as possible is to take your time whenever it is your turn to act. As an example, in a live tournament wait until it is your turn before even looking at your cards. Pause and act deliberately whether you play or fold and do this each and every time it is your turn. In an online tournament never use the “auto action” buttons and always wait a few seconds before selecting your decision. There is no need to stall to the extreme. That will certainly upset the other players. But repeatedly wasting a few moments will accomplish the goal.

A “tactical” stall is one that is used in certain specific situations in an attempt to either gain an advantage yourself or put other players at an additional disadvantage. These stalls are typically lengthy and very obvious, but are usually done for just a limited time. The usual purpose is to give other players a chance to bust out before you do or to raise the blinds and put players with small stacks in greater jeopardy of busting out. Some of these situations are:

When you are short stacked and are getting close to a payout position or an increased payout. If you can wait it out you might sneak into the money.

When an opponent is short stacked, it is close to the time for the blinds to increase and the increase will mean your opponent will be all-in or close to all-in.

You have a big stack in a freeze-out or at the final table.

When there is an open seat between the blinds and you. You want to allow time for another player to be moved into that seat before the blind positions get to you.

There are certainly times or reasons when it is inappropriate to stall or stalling will be of no practical benefit. Those situations include: Before getting close to the payout positions. When “hand for hand” play is in effect (usually in an online tournament). To help another player. To deliberately annoy other players. In a cash game