Early stages

It can be extremely disheartening to lose a lot of chips early on, but make sure you don’t feel like you’re a short stack straight away. If you still have plenty of chips compared to the blinds, you can still manoeuvre and play good poker to rebuild. If you are short, try and play an all-in pot with someone playing loose early on, who may give you that courtesy double-up you need.

Middle stages

Playing the short stack in the middle stages is all about being patient and finding the right spots. Remember, you can’t wait too long – don’t get tempted to start hanging on for the money when you entered the tourney to win it. Find spots where the players in the blinds are playing tight and your move has some chance of taking the pot down uncontested.

Late stages

Being a short stack near the end is tough. If you’re in the money your tournament life has some value, which escalates as other players are knocked out. However, unless you’re very close to the end of the tourney you should still be trying to grab some chips to get back into contention. Look for spots where the blinds are playing too tight, or find some high-card strength and hope a big stack doubles you up.