If you play in poker tournaments, it's important to realize that the chips in front of you don't have any cash value. Okay, so that part is obvious -- but what's not quite as obvious is that each chip does not have the same value to you as a tournament player. In fact, every additional chip you accumulate is less valuable than the first chip you have in front of you.
Two factors lead to this effect: survival, and the prize structure. Since you only need a single chip to remain in the tournament, that first chip is immensely valuable. However, while further chips improve your chances of going far, they can never reach the value of that first chip. In addition, unless you're playing in a winner-take-all tournament, not all of the money is going to first place. This means that even if you collect all of the chips, you won't be taking home all of the money; meanwhile, if you just hold on to your chips for long enough before losing them, you'll get a prize.
This idea has a profound effect late in a poker tournament. Early on, chip value might be slightly different than cash value, but the difference is tiny. In the bubble and into the money, however, and it becomes massive. Larger stacks are almost always making a huge mistake getting into risky confrontations with other big stacks at this point in the tournament; often, due to prize considerations, the players who benefit most from these big stack battles are the players who aren't involved!
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