Don't be afraid to Take a Stand

We have all been there. You are midway through the tournament and you are not short stacked but you are not an average stack either. Usually you have around 50 – 75% of the average chip stack.

If you’re chip count is not quite average and still short either by the first break of the poker tournament then you likely have plenty of time to continue building your stack while the blinds are low. However, if you have are in no man’s land just a little short of the tournament average or less then you need to make a decision. Usually that decision will determine your tournament life.

Personally, I play poker tournaments to win them and not to just place. However, in order to do so you must be willing to put it all on the line on a big draw or race in order to get to that final table. No one said it was going to be easy but the poker players you see at the final table most have impeccable timing and can sense when it’s time to gamble. You need to hone those same instincts and do the same.

This means hands like [T][T], [9][9], [A][Q], [A][J], and sometimes even [J][T]s are hands that you are willing to get all of your chips in pre-flop or with a re-raise to your opponent. In these spots you are clearly putting your opponent on over cards and hoping for your middle pairs to hold or to hit your Jack Ten for a straight, flush, or either card vs AK or AQ. Yes, there is inherent risk in playing these hands for all of your chips. However, against a random hand, you are still likely to have the best hand. Even against AK and AQ you are only a 3-2 dog which isn’t that bad.

Whatever you decide to do you do not want to allow those blinds to come crashing down on you and render your chip stack powerless. There is nothing worse than being a lame duck at the table and it should not happen if you are paying attention to where you are at in the tournament and your chip stack relevant to the other players.

Good luck at the tables!