One major problem that I have been advising regular players on for years, is letting their stacks get too short in Tournament Play.

The question is often asked "I got really deep in the tournament when I went card dead, I finally got a mediocre hand, after I called his preflop raise, should I have folded on the flop?"

The answer is usually, "you should have gone all in BEFORE the flop."

The 10-12 Big Blind Rule (or 10-15 depending on your own preference) is nothing new. Once you reach the point in your tournament where you have less than x amount of big blinds, your only move is shove all in, or fold.

But it is amazing how many regular players who have been playing online tournaments for years, would rather play for survival and let themselves fall well below this threshold.

The beauty of sticking to this rule is twofold:

1) You will always make sure you have enough chips to play poker. Your stack will be sizeable enough to threaten other players into folding, and you will have enough chips to perform advanced strategical plays.

2) The decision-making process is made for you! Theres nothing to think about. If this hand is playable, then you are all-in. If it is not, you fold. Easy!

Sure there will be times where you shove your hand and run into a bigger one, or lose a coin flip, or a 60/40 race. However these instances are offset by all the times you would have just limped into the money, and are now making final tables instead.