The toughest position at the table in a tournament is having the short stack. There’s no use in cursing the player who gave you a bad beat or kicking yourself for making a bad play; you’re short-stacked and you need to get chips fast or your tournament chair will be empty.

Put every chip you have into the pot once you get the premium hand. At this point in the game, you have to be mentally prepared to either go all-in or fold. If you can see a flop for a bargain price, go ahead, but only if your cards are strong enough to call a raise. The rest of the table will try to take advantage of your short stack and play aggressively to bully you out of the hand.

Take advantage of players that you know to be tight when you’re the small stack. If you know that your opponent plays conservatively, then they will probably fold if you go all in. When you have small stacks, every pot you win is extremely important.

An important weapon in NO Limit Holdem is the check-raise. This technique helps you steal small pots or corner aggressive players. You’ll see where you stand quickly. Your opponent will realize that you have a big hand and recognize that they’d better have one too.

It looks like you didn’t want to bet away your action with a big hand because since you check-raised its an effective move from an early position. After somebody placed a bet, you determined to reraise them, positioning yourself strongly. A bet made in the late-position is frequently a bluff, and you will be able to win a lot of these pots statistically. Check-raises should not be used until the right time – when you think your opponent may be plotting to steal the pot, and when you have a few outs via good hands.

It can be especially effective to check-raise the turn. With this move it appears as though you intended to slow-play your hand up until they had two chances at the pot. At that point the only players likely to remain are those with exceptionally good hands. You know you’re against a good hand, if they stay in.