Hello 2 + 2

I was watching the live feed from the main event and Antonio made a comment that it was good to have the small stack to the left of your position. (In this case the small stack was to the immediate left of the player involved in the situation in which he was commenting on.) From the few books I have read, the thinking was it was better to see how the small stack was going to play pre-flop before making a decision. What are the advantages of having the small stack to your left? How do these compare to the advantages of having the small stack on your right? Thanks!

I think it's because you can wait until they're looking the other way and scoop all their chips in one arm movement.

I think he meant as opposed to having a big stack on your left...a small stack is theoretically going to be playing less hands so you can open without worrying about getting 3bet all the time as you might with a big laggy stack on your left. Disadvantage is that the short stack is almost never just calling so if you open there's always the chance that he picked up a hand to shove and you might have to fold.

In a tournament like the me where tourney life is so valuable, I'd rather have a short stack on my left because a. he won't be able to put alot of pressure on me and b. he's not going to be shoving anything but premiums most likely so we have an easy decision when he does.

Money moving clock-wise in poker -> you have position on the big stacks.

Smaller stacks reduces the power of position.