7) Strategy: Playing With The Lead

Let's assume that things are going well and you are in the lead pack. Playing from the front is all about staying there and maintaining good chip position for the next EH. You have several options available to you by virtue of your good play and good fortune.

On The Button, Bet Enough To Keep The Lead
You may find yourself with the lead and the button or close to it. This is a classic good news and bad news situation since you're out of position. In this case you should make use of your chip lead margin. The bad news is that many of your opponents will bet enough to take over the lead, as they should. The good news is you can anticipate this and bet the margin of your lead or slightly more.

EXAMPLE - Hand 18 @ 100,000 max/1,000 min
You 175,000 chips - bets 11,000 (Button)
Seat 2 130,000 chips - bets 25,000
Seat 3 125,000 chips - bets 15,000
Seat 4 169,000 chips - bets 20,000
Seat 5 166,000 chips - bets 1,000

By betting your lead or slightly more it forces opponents make specific choices. Seat 4 has opted to take the high against you. Seat 5 has taken the low against both you and Seat 4.

Correlate With Your Nearest Opponent
When leading, watch the stack of the opponent directly behind you in chip status. Consider betting the same as this opponent. This is known as a correlation bet and is a very powerful tool to keep a lead over another player. You will generally share the same result and maintain your relative chip position.

EXAMPLE - Hand 17 @ 100,000 max/1,000 min
You 175,000 chips - bets 11,000
Seat 2 130,000 chips - bets 30,000
Seat 3 125,000 chips - bets 25,000 (Button)
Seat 4 165,000 chips - bets 11,000
Seat 5 140,000 chips - bets 15,000

Seat 4 is your closest competitor and has reasonably bet 11,000 chips to take the lead from you. Go ahead and correlate with the 11,000 chip bet to maintain the lead if you both win or both lose.

Don't Always Double or Split
With the lead, consider passing up all but the strongest double or split opportunities. Factor your bet size, your targeted opponents bet size, and the results you've seen into this decision. Getting more chips on the table is not always to your advantage especially if losing the extra chips will significantly hurt your chip standing.

EXAMPLE - Hand 17 @ 100,000 max/1,000 min
You 175,000 chips - bets 11,000 (dealt 8/8)
Seat 2 130,000 chips - bets 30,000
Seat 3 125,000 chips - bets 25,000 (Button)
Seat 4 165,000 chips - bets 11,000
Seat 5 140,000 chips - bets 15,000
Dealer Hand = 6/?

Suppose you have been dealt 8/8 and decide to split your 11,000 chip let to 22,000 chips. A loss could drop you to 153,000 chips and into fourth place or worse. Remember that maintaining a top two chip status is preferable to slipping into a catch up mode. Proximity to an EH also dictates the more conservative approach.

The Shutout Bet
The shutout bet is one of the most powerful plays you can make in EBJ. It happens before an EH and is somewhat of a rare opportunity. It is a bet sized so if you win it renders the last place competitor mathematically unable to catch you on the EH.

EXAMPLE - Hand 15 @ 25,000 max/500 min
You 54,500 chips - bets 3,500
Seat 2 29,000 chips
Seat 3 34,500 chips
Seat 4 25,500 chips
Seat 5 10,000 chips - bets 10,000 (Button)

If Seat 5 wins this hand (assuming not blackjack) it will have 20,000 chips for the hand 16 EH. Now you'll be guaranteed to advance by betting an amount that even if you lose, would cover an opponents maximum chip win on the hand 16 EH. In this case the opponents maximum chip potential after the EH (with a blackjack) would be 50,000 chips. therefore a 3,500 chip maximum bet guarantees you to advance. If you lose and drop to 51,000 chips you can bet the minimum 500 chips on the EH and be assured of advancing. Always be on the lookout for a shutout opportunity when a large disparity exists between your stack and the last place stack.
Also note that you can start to set this situation up two hands before an EH.

One last comment on this example. Note that if Opponent 4 loses hand 15 they are eliminated. Keep in mind that now another player will also be eliminated on the hand 16 EH. You are still in good shape with a probable lead going in to the EH. Recount the new lowest stack and see if another lockout is possible.