Surviving a Short Stack Flurry

  At both the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour this year, we have seen some pretty big heads-up leads evaporate. Somebody who started the last phase of a tournament with a tremendous chip lead has often found themselves accepting the second place check and wondering what the hell happened. According to logical concept of Ockham's razor, where the simplest explanation is generally the right one, the cause is easy to diagnose. The person with the small stack nickel and dimed the big stack, and then hit them with the occasional all-in bet, allowing the small stack to tread water with the occasional double-up.  When you are heads-up with the big stack, sometimes you just have to forget that you have most of the chips, and play like somebody who is behind. Your opponent is not going to give you much play on your all-in bets, and will much prefer to just chip away at your mountain of chips while picking their spots. What you need to do is deprive them of the occasional big score.  Most players who are the chip leaders can absorb small hits to their stack. You simply need to realize the mathematics of the situation: if you are putting out $40,000 in blinds every round, then you have to win at least that much to stay ahead. If you concentrate on this fact, and don't bite when your opponent tries to goad you into a knockout punch, the natural back and forth of the game, combined with escalating blinds, will force your chip challenged foe into a mistake, like biting on one of your bets that puts them all-in.  When it comes to the end of a tournament, the person with the short stack needs to double up to survive. For the big stack, that sort of bet is the one you put the opponent away with. Make sure you are the one deciding the conditions of the all-in bet, not simply following Mr. Short Stack's lead.