Block theory and the Gigabet Dilemma

January 25th, 2011

Although many are unaware of it, block theory and the Gigabet Dilemma related to it should be familiar to anyone serious about poker SNG tournaments.
If you never heard about it before then now is the perfect time to understand what it is !

The name and the theory itself were coined by Gigabet, former TwoPlusTwo poster and contributor. The block theory assumes that each person sitting at the poker table belongs to a different ‘group,’ depending on his stack size. The result is that, when making decisions in a poker SNG tournament, you should always consider how that decision will affect your placement among these stack groups. This suggests that it can sometimes be a good idea to make an -EV decision, if the long-term benefits of a potential win outweigh the risk of losing the hand. Simply put the theory assumes that, as long as most players left in the SNG have relatively similar stack sizes, there is no considerable advantage to having an above average chip stack, UNLESS it is considerably larger than the average. Let’s take a look at an example. There are 7 players left in an SNG:

Player 1: 5200 chips
Player 2: 5100 chips
Player 3: 4100 chips
Player 4: 3300 chips
Player 5: 3200 chips
Player 6: 1800 chips
Player 7: 1700 chips

You are player number 2. Let’s say that player number 7 goes all-in and everyone else folds to you. You are holding a mediocre hand, such as Q7. From a strictly expected value perspective, this would be a bad call. You are far more likely to lose this hand than you are to win it. And yet, the block theory suggest that this call could be very profitable. Here is why:

Your chip stack is 4900, which is of course very good. BUT. From a strategic point of view, it wouldn’t make a big difference if you lost 1700 chips with that call - your stack would still be 3400 chips, allowing you to play comfortably; you can still bluff your opponents, get them to fold, and play a regular game of poker. Providing you know what you are doing of course, then your chances of winning the SNG with 3400 chips are quite similar to the chances of winning it if you had 4900 chips.

On the other hand, if you do call with Q7 and win the hand, you are up 1700, which puts your stack size at 6800. This puts you out of your opponents’ stack ‘group’. With a stack this large, you are in the extremely advantageous position for getting people to fold pre-flop and to bluff them off their hands. As you can see, the seemingly -EV decision might actually turn out to be +EV for you in the long-run within that tournament. And that is what we call the Gigabet dilemma.

The next obvious question is: should you be using this strategy?

It depends. Many weak players use it simply as an excuse for justifying poor calls they make. If you are an experienced enough player capable of exploiting your opponents once you have a stack considerably larger than everyone else, then this play could definitely be a good one. If you are a beginner on the other hand, make sure to read first a few poker books related to tournaments and poker math. Gain some experience playing SNG’s and tournaments, and once you feel that you are actually capable of using a large stack to your advantage, consider trying out the concept outlined in this article.

This article was written by Mark Conner, owner of the poker girls website, for exclusive use by pokertipsnstrategies.com.

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