It has long been said that to win a tournament, playing to survive is secondary. The greatest players of our time seem to know exactly when to take the risks necessary to get the job done at just the right time. Playing to win is key to maximizing tournament profits, often at great immediate risk.

There are only four ways to lose a tournament. Every tournament loss is related to one of these four ways, and many losses are related to more than one of these ways! My intention in writing this article is to state these four reasons for losing the tournament that a player faces, and with each, to show instances where playing to win and playing to survive actually work together to increase your chances of success!

Way to Lose #1: Succumbing to a Bad Beat.

Well since you got your chips in with the best of it, there's nothing you can do about a bad beat right? Often, the answer is... Wrong! When a bad beat knocks you out, it is because, at the beginning of the hand, you had fewer chips than the one who put you out with his four-outer. If you had chips remaining after the hand, you would have survived.

The remedies:

- Chip up as you go, especially early on, and when the money bubble is about to break.

- If the action is folded to you in late position, be sure to open the pot for a raise with a wide variety of hands.

- Take advantage of weakness by attacking it at every opportunity.

- If your opponent raises too much, come over top on occasion.

- Make the most of your big hands.

- Induce a bluff when you have the goods by making a small lead bet against an aggressive opponent.

- Play your strong draws very aggressively when you are a favorite or only a slight underdog to win the pot.

Each of these moves adds a little to your stack and just might be enough to save your tournament life, so that when the inevitable bad beat comes around, you aren't on the rail.

Way to Lose #2: Getting Caught with the Second-Best Hand.

When you have an excellent hand and your opponent has the nuts, often it is correct to go broke on the hand because you are a favorite to win. This does not mean the situation was definately unavoidable though! When a second-best hand knocks you out, much of the time it was a case of failing to isolate.

The remedies:

- Raise your big hands preflop to reduce the number of hands you are up against. The more hands that are in there with you, the more likely it is, exponentially, that your fantastic hand will not hold up.

- Preflop, open the pot for a raise as often as possible, as opposed to limping in.

- Play good starting cards, so that kicker hands are decided in your favor.

- Don't slowplay non-monsters, allowing a draw to catch up, and make it costly to find out that he did.

- Make large bets when there are draws out there, in order to make it unprofitable for them to continue drawing.

- Respect check-raises against bad opponents; they often have a very strong hand.

- Don't ignore a strong read that says you are beat. Often when it looks like the nuts, it's the nuts.

Way to Lose #3: Bluffing Big at the Wrong Time.

It's a fine line between making the one big play that counts at just the right time and making the one big play that counts against you at just the wrong time. Aggressive players often have a yo-yo effect on their stack throughout the tournament, going from the top to the middle to shortstacked to the middle and to the chiplead again! Then all of a sudden, it all comes crashing down at the most inopportune time...

The remedies:

- Save the biggest bluffs for special occasions when you are more than reasonably certain your opponent will fold and your read of his hand or range of hands is extremely solid.

- Don't try advanced plays against simple players. The key is to think exactly one level ahead of your opponent, not two or more. If you are two levels ahead, your opponent often has the right response for the wrong reason. Too often a play is made based on what you think your opponent will think you have, when all he is doing is playing what he has, because he doesn't have the wherewithal to even attempt to read your hand.

- Don't bluff the unbluffable. If you see an opponent make a ridiculous call or multiple beginner's mistakes, stop and think before trying a bluff on him.

- Have outs when you bluff as often as you can. This way, if you get caught, you might just be able to pull out the card you need to not only survive but double, which will help you survive later!

- Be aware of your table image. If you are seen as someone who makes plays frequently, you are bound to be looked up.

- Against the toughest players, be sure the hand you are representing on the street on which you are bluffing makes sense for every street up until now. If not, you will confuse your opponent, and confused people call.

- Choose opportune times to bluff, such as continuation betting and around the money bubble.

Way to Lose #4: Blinding out.

When you are down to a shortstack, any of these ways can take you out at any time. You are now just a fly to be swatted. People will call you for any reason and even cooperate at times to ensure your elimination. You must avoid getting too low on chips at all costs, so that you can have the flexibility to have more than just one move.

The remedies:

- Learn about "M." Harrington on Hold'em, Vol 2. teaches you the way to play when your stack is declining, at every step downward.

- Play more hands for a raise. When you are pot-committed, you cannot be reraised out of the hand. If you are called by a better hand, they still have to beat you to get you out!

- Be aware when there is little time left. Always know where the blinds are, and when the next blind increase is, and if it will take away all or most of your fold equity (ability to make others fold). If the increase will reduce your stack to that level, steal a pot or two while you still have a big enough stack to make others fold.

- Play your draws aggressively when you are shortstacked.

- Make slightly -EV plays now in exchange for getting a stack that gives you the flexibility to make more +EV plays later.

- Chip up while your stack is average and below average, not just when you have a big stack.

Hopefully, this article will help you recognize dangerous situations and the best counters for each, while still allowing you to go for it all! Remember, the ultimate in survival is outlasting everyone by winning the last hand you play!

This is my first article that pertains to players of all levels, rather than just my specialty, the low-limit game. I hope everyone can benefit from it at every level.

Jennifear is a proud Contributing Writer for Pocketfives.com and a Presto Award Winner for 2006's Most Valuable Poster, as voted by the readers of PocketFives. She teaches private poker lessons, and you can find the details at Jennifear.com. A discount on these lessons is available by supporting pocketfives.com by joining a poker site through one of their links.