Part: Part Ten - Adjusting to Different Stacks

Avoid the stack that covers you

Pre-flop
Blinds 400 / 800 (100 ante)Pot 9,300 (11.6 BB)You: medium • avoid the big stackMPA♣J♣● 18,000 (22.5 BB)YOUyou open to 1,800BTN● 60,000 (75 BB)Big stack3-bets 5,400 (6.8 BB)SB● 18,000 (22.5 BB)posts 400 (0.5 BB)BB● 18,000 (22.5 BB)posts 800 (1 BB)D

You're a medium stack near the bubble. You open A♣J♣ from middle position and the big stack who covers you three-bets from the button.

Medium stack near the bubble; the covering big stack three-bets your open. Best?

WhyA-J looks strong until you notice who three-bet you - the single stack at the table that can end your night. His re-three-betting range is loaded with hands that dominate you or leave you flipping, and getting it in risks everything for a thin, uncertain edge. Your medium stack is a weapon against the players you cover; don't hand it to the player who covers you.
What happensYou let A-J go and keep a stack that still pressures everyone else at the table. Folding a pretty hand to the wrong opponent is discipline, not weakness.
You stayed off the one player who could end your night: as a medium stack you folded a good-looking hand rather than stack off against the stack that covers you.

Size your risk by who can bust you. Near the bubble, hands that print against smaller stacks turn into folds against anyone who covers your whole tournament.