One of the most controversial subjects in Sit & Go’s and tournaments is the use of the clock to manipulate the action (often referred to as stalling). This is most commonly a problem in online poker, where players have a fixed time bank and cannot see their opponents face to face. It has become a heated subject at times, with pros like Daniel Negreanu fiercely opposing the tactic, while other online pros defend the practice as just part of the game. Despite this though, most sites do not give out any penalties for stalling, since it is hard to enforce and players are seen as being allowed to use their time bank as they wish.
It’s worth nothing that you’re not actually breaking any rules by stalling. However, if you are going to use this slightly underhand measure you should consider the circumstances and possible consequences carefully. Firstly you should check to see whether other people are doing it already in your tournament. If so it is perfectly within your rights to do the same thing so that an equal number of hands is played on your table (for example, on the bubble of a MTT or Sit & Go). If you don’t pay attention to this kind of play you could be the one forced into paying for a crucial blind increase. The logical outcome of this, however, is that everyone starts stalling and the game grinds to a halt on the bubble, so you want to be careful about initiating such tactics.
Secondly, you should ask how important the situation is. If you are short-stacked on the bubble of an MTT or there is a very big blind increase coming you should clearly be more inclined to stall, so save this tactic for only the most crucial situations.
Bad karma?
Finally, you should ask what negative consequences there might be if you start stalling, and this is the main reason people are more reluctant to do so live. As already stated, the game might grind to a halt, which could be bad for you if you have an edge on the bubble. Worse still, other players might get upset at your tactics and decide to try to knock you out, or spite-stall to ensure that the blind increases hit you instead. Similarly, you may find your reputation being attacked by vocal players with different views on the move’s legality. Therefore, if you are going to stall make sure it’s mainly in response to the behaviour of others. At least try to restrict your use of this tactic to key points in tournaments and Sit & Go’s and hopefully you’ll minimise the negative reactions of other players.