When to Commit

  For years people have been asking the question what the threshold for commitment is. To be honest that question is usually associated with dating and when it is a right time to ask your significant other to either invest in a ring or find someone with a tramp stamp who is only interested in having a good time. For the sake of this conversation, "committed" means when you are pot committed during tournament play.  When you are unfortunate enough to have a short stack, and the number of chips you have relative to what is in pot creates a situation where the pot odds demand that you call with the remainder of your chips, you are technically pot committed.  In short if you are getting 2:1 odds before the flop to call, you should push the remainder of your chips to the center of the table and hope for the best. Keep in mind this is a two-way street. If you are playing against a competent opponent who is short stacked, and they wind up going all in before the flop, you can safely assume that they are getting those sort of odds and play your cards accordingly.  Good Luck!