How to Rebuild Your Stack When Your Shortstacked?
If you want to win poker tournaments or at least cash in on your hours of hard work at the poker tables you have to be able to rebuild your stack after a brutal bad beat or a pot that just didn’t go your way. These things happen more times than not in poker tournaments for a wide range of players and to maintain a clear mind you have to put the past behind you, and have hope for the future. Playing a short stack in poker is probably one of the easier things to do in tournaments. You only have the decision to shove all in or throw your hand away. If you feel like you have the best hand then you should go all in.
One way to survive in poker tournaments with a short stack is to pick your spots to double up. If you recognize aggressive players at your table it is only a matter of time before they raise and you get a hand to shove with. Even if you don’t have premium big pocket pairs or AK or AQ you should still be prepared to play pots with your opponents at all times. On the short stack in tournament poker your guard has to be up all the way at all times. If you lose focus for one second and look down at a mediocre hand and shove all in at a bad time you will probably bust out and leave with no money for your efforts. To survive in poker tournaments means more than just having chips left it means that you have to put your money in with the best hand. If you shove all in wildly with random hands in bad spots you will go broke almost every time unless you are very lucky. To find premium hands on the short stack is unlikely so it goes by feel a lot of the time.
How you should look to rebuild your stack in a poker tournament is by shoving all in with hands that can get there. Hands like KJ suited or middle pocket pairs, even suited aces are good enough depending on your position at the table. All of these things are what you should keep in mind. When you get under 10 big blinds this is just about desperation time for you and your tournament. With weak hands you sometimes just have to shove it in and hope for the best. Once you are so short stacked that you can only shove or fold is when you are most dangerous. If you win 2 all in’s then you are right back up with the chip leaders at the table more times than not. Even if you shove all in and force folds then you are still maintaining a decent stack.
Surviving in poker tournaments has to do with picking your spots and avoiding the land mines. There are so many bad things or stuff that could go wrong in poker tournaments that you always have to maintain a positive attitude no matter what. If you look to be positive through tough times then eventually you will get some chips back and move forward in the poker tournament. Poker tournaments are so difficult to have success in because to make a final table it takes tons of perseverance. If you cannot persevere through the difficult times then you will never have good times. There are plenty of chip and a chair stories out there today, and just because you haven’t got a big stack doesn’t mean that you will not win the tournament. If you want to survive and you really want to rebuild then you will do it on your own. It is hard to play poker tournaments and it is also very stressful especially around the time the money comes around, but if you want to have success then you have to battle. If you battle in poker tournaments and you do your absolute best, one day you will take down a big poker tournament. The big tournament is what everyone dreams of, but most importantly players just want to win poker tournaments. Survival is not winning right away, but it does let you hang around longer and maybe even lets you get to the final table. As long as you make steady decisions, you can and will advance when playing a short stack.