Yesterday I made another final table with a small stack. Actually I had the smallest stack. My feelings were that I NEEDED TO MAKE A HAND NOW! We've all been in the position where our tournament life is at stake and we panic. We decide that this QJ off-suit is a decent enough hand to go for it. I was ready to go for it when I remembered a cardinal rule of tournaments; Patience. If I were to take the 3 blinds I had left and double, I would be in a position to make a raise that might get respect again. So I threw the QJ away and I waited. (I would've lost that hand too, to a KQ) I threw away my blinds to shock and criticism and waited some more. I finally caught QQ. There was an all-in in front of me with a call from the chip leader. I loved these odds and tossed my measly 3K into the pot. (Blinds were now 800/1600) I was up against QJ (all-in player) and AK from chip leader. The board double paired low with no over cards and I now sat with almost 12K. Still short stacked, but I was in a position to buy some blinds in late position, especially since I had earned a lot of respect from the table by not giving up and calling with a lesser hand earlier. (You might want to make a big deal out of throwing away your cards in this position in order to call attention to your tight play.) I continued to not panic and eventually some hands came. I went on to win the tournament.

The moral of the story... Don't ever settle for a sub-prime hand. The three P's of poker are always in effect: Patience, Position and Power! So do not be in a panic to get a hand. Unless you are down to your last blind, you need to be patient. As the saying goes: “Hurry up and wait!