Most everyone can remember a schoolyard bully from their past. Why was this individual a bully? Because he was big enough and strong enough and possessed the disposition that he could bully weaker individuals. Some things never change and having the tools to be a bully is one of them. When you find yourself with a huge chip advantage in a tournament you need to be the bully. Some players when well ahead in a tournament go into a shell to protect their stack. They believe that they can sit back and wait for premium hands because their stack is deep enough that the blinds won't cripple them. Well, chips are power and are the strength you need to become the bully. To sit back and not bully the smaller stacks is sheer folly. Nobody liked the bully in the schoolyard but in poker you're not looking for adulation, you're looking to win. So, I think we've established that you need to be the bully and not rely on others to knock out weaker opponents. You want and need those chips. Hell, you don't want your weaker opponents to get stronger and become more of a threat. When you possess that big stack, just like the popular TV show, you have the FEAR FACTOR. Stealing becomes significantly easier as your large stack has an implied threat to it that makes many opponents hesitate to tangle with you. Even if you're called you're usually not too much of an underdog and can still win the hand. If you lose some of these pots and feel the table's image of your "Fear Factor" is beginning to wane you can always slow down for a while.

Utilizing your large chip stack to be the bully is paramount to winning tournament play. To have amassed the chips in the first place and then not use them as a weapon is the epitome of wimpy, survival type tournament play. Sure you might get some of your stack eaten away but to sit back and go into a shell is not the way you will ever win a tournament. Be the bully and use those chips to attack. Attack the weaker stacks and you might just grow your own stack. Of course catching a few lucky cards can certainly help the effort but you can't sit back and just wait for premium hands. We've all heard the old adage of "I'd rather be lucky than good". Well wouldn't you rather be lucky and good?

Our goal for this session is to embrace the title of this column when playing in a tournament and when we find ourselves with a large stack to become the bully. Resist the impulse to go into a shell to protect your stack. Remember, in a tournament, if your stack is not growing----it's shrinking. Use your robust chip position and its implied threat to bully and attack your weaker opponents unmercifully.

Keep putting the weaker stacks to tough decisions and you'll find your stack growing and growing. Bully yourself right to the final table and then to first place. Oh, and if your aggressiveness winds up knocking you out of a tournament or two please don't whine. It's so unbecoming. See you next "TIME".