Event 9
Level 22 (6,000/12,000/2,000)Total Entrants: 195
Players Remaining: 16
Chip Average: 240,000
This is the first Card Player Poker Tour event that we've seen thus far that hasn't had players adequately stacked when they reach the later portions of events, as the chip average at this stage of the tournament in prior events have been sitting between 30-40 big blinds.
That number has basically been cut in half today as the current chip average is playing just 20 big blinds, which is definitely short, but there is more than meets the eye to this "short stacked" problem...
20 big blinds isn't necessarily in the "danger zone" but when you look at the "price to play" per orbit, the stacks at these eight handed tables are getting shorter every time the button moves.
With the antes at 2,000 per hand and the small and big blind at 6,000 and 12,000 respectfully, that is a "price" of 34,000 chips per orbit.
In terms of the average stack size, that's close to 15% of those players entire stacks getting "spent" per orbit and that number is only going to increase over the next few levels.
Now that number is without putting any money into the pot involuntarily, so if a player makes or calls a pre-flop raise, that 15% can turn to a higher percentage of their stack if they don't win the pot in question.
We've seen a few players, Chris Leong in particular, using an aggressive pre-flop strategy to pick up some of the "dead" money in the pot and increase their stack and stay ahead of the curve to combat the quicker, higher blind levels.
That strategy has seemed to work thus far as Leong looks like the biggest stack in the room as he looks to make his second straight CPPT Final Table.
Players are now just a few minutes from their next break.
