The following are general guidelines

1. If you are the Short Stack or you are running out of chips, it is time to make a move.

The biggest mistake that I see novices make is waiting too long before switching to aggressive play. By the time they go all-in, they don’t have enough chips to scare anyone away - they are called by 3 players and go broke.

2. When you are Chip Leader, throw your weight around at the table. A good player will be a “bully” at a table where he is chip leader.

As the bully of the table, you will be able to buy more pots than otherwise. However, don’t get TOO aggressive. I see many bad players lose huge sums of money trying to buy every single pot.

Another mistake that Chip Leaders make is becoming too comfortable. Poker is a very volatile game and no matter how many chips you have, you could go broke in just a few hands. To avoid losing your advantage as chip leader, aggressively play your good hands. As chip leader, you can afford to lose chips on good hands and bad beats, but not on bad bluffs.

3. Beware the Chip Leader and Short Stack

If you are in the middle of the pack, going heads up against the Chip Leader or Short Stack can be a dangerous choice. First, a player in the Short Stack is often desperate and dangerous to bluff against. If you have solid cards, playing the Short Stack can be great. The Short Stack is more willing to go all-in with only mediocre hands; this means a big win for you.

The Chip Leader is also very dangerous to play unless you have solid cards. If the Chip Leader has a hunch that you are bluffing, they are likely to call you or raise you down the line. If you try to bluff the Chip Leader and he suspects it, you are in huge danger of losing a chunk of your stack.

To avoid getting caught bluffing by the Chip Leader and losing to mediocre cards, make sure your bets and raises are enough to make a serious difference for every player at the card table. If the Chip Leader has $1,000 in chips, small $15-50 bets will not scare him away but could take a significant chunk out of your stack. So, if you are trying to buy a pot from the Chip Leader make sure you bet at least $100-$200, a sum that will usually be enough to make him think twice about calling.

4. Eliminate Short Stacks When Possible

If you watched the World Series of Poker this year, you saw that Chris “Jesus” Ferguson was down to his last chip. However, with only a single $2,000 chip, he battled back to build a stack of $125,000.

This type of comeback isn’t unusual in poker; in fact it is very common. I have seen hundreds of players who were short stacked catch a few lucky hands and end up as the Chip Leader.

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