When you are deep in a poker tournament and are a short stack when do you go for it? Some say that you should when you have 10 big blinds or less. I say that you should do it sooner than this if you want to have a chance to win the tournament. You have to accept that you are not going to have all the luck to win every tournament you play in, so if you have 15 to 20 big blinds you should start pushing with good hands.

I am not saying that you should push under the gun with 79 suited!!! I am saying that any two faces should be considered good enough.

Having Fold Equity is VERY important in tournament poker!

If you go to play live poker and you have been playing for an hour and you don’t know how at the table that you could exploit then maybe you shouldn’t be at that table? You have to know your opponents and know what your opponents know about you! If you don’t have this information then you are relying on luck and that will not get you too far in your long run poker career. KNOW YOUR TABLE!

This happens to everyone that hasn’t accepted that AA is just a pair! Everyone seems to over play AA even when they are called pre-flop and the flop is scary. If you have a player call your pre-flop raise you have to imagine what they could have. If the flop comes with high cards, they could have very well flopped two pair or if you don’t feel trouble and are raised on the flop your opponents could also have a set or draws that can easily beat AA. Just remember that AA can be beat and don’t over play them unless you feel you have the best hand.

I have heard so many people say “I had to call, I was pot committed”. If you are in a tournament and you raise, putting in half of your stack and you get raised for the rest; there is no reason that you should feel pot committed if you have a loosing hand! The point in a poker tournament is to make it as far as you can and if call just because you think your committed and not because you have the best hand, then not only have you made a bad call but you are playing bad poker!

I see this happen often with players who have been paying too much attention to the professional poker players around.  Being aggressive, means you must be SELECTIVE in your aggression.  Raising in the cutoff just because its folded to you – is not a smart move in the early stages of a poker tournament.  Play tight, protect your chips, play aggressive when you have hands in all positions, and wait for the opportunity to take advantage of your opponents.