Today, July 12th, Day 3 will begin, with all the surviving players from the four Day 1's and the two Day 2's coming together and starting the serious hunt for the money. The field is smaller this year than last, which means a smaller top prize ($8.25 million instead of $12 million) and not so many final table players will be millionaires (only 5), but with the redistribution on the pay schedule just making the money is going to be worth more than it was last year.
Many players will now shift their gears. There was an instance with a short stack player on Day 2A stalling, which might be the right idea implemented at the wrong time. With just around $15k in chips and the day winding to a close, this player decided he wanted to reach Day 3 and so started taking his time on each hand. When the other players were unable to convince him to speed things up, they called the clock on him immediately on every hand. The player did manage to make it to Day 3, but was his tactic wise?
The other players were trying to explain it to him - stalling to make the money, while annoying everyone around you, may be a legitimate move if you are close. With the money quite a ways off, however, stalling does nothing to increase the chances you will cash. In fact, it could do quite the opposite.
Assume the short stack is an average player who needs good cards to beef up his stack. If he is not getting good cards, he isn't playing; but the level clock is still ticking. If he stalls he plays less hands than otherwise, so by the time he gets good cards the blinds may have gone up, his stack down, and even doubling up will be of less good to him than if had done so earlier on. Thus, the best tactic is to actually speed up play, get more chances to get good cards, and increase your odds of building your stack rather than getting blinded away.
When the money looms, however, be on the look out for quite a few stalling players.
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