Late Stage Strategy

Big or middle sized stack
Every poker players dream is reaching the late stages of a tournament with a big stack of chips. If you should find yourself in this position you have a huge advantage you must capitalize on. Only in this situation can you afford to play a bit more passively until you are close to the money. When you are only a few places away from the prizes, you should pick up the pace with your big stack (or even with a medium stack).

The risk of going broke will scare your opponents into playing tight and you will have plenty of opportunities to steal pots and make bluffs. A really aggressive playing style is recommended under these circumstances and you should make sure that you are the aggressor and not the caller. You should avoid confrontations with other big stacks and pick on the smaller stacks instead in order to avoid going broke.

Small stack
If you're stack is small you want to make a move before it's too late. If you wait too long you will become so short stacked that the other players will bully you around regardless of what cards they're holding. If you're dealt really good cards you should do all you can to get action in order to double up. For example, you might slow play hands you normally wouldn't risk going broke with.

In this situation you have to gamble more and take risks if you want a chance of winning the tournament. Needless to say you run a greater risk of going broke but that's a price you have to pay.

Source: WSOP