$10 x 10 player S&G on PartyPoker Tonight
Blinds 100/200
Six Players

I find myself in the unenviable position of having only 200 chips left, just enough to call the big blind. I had been having a semi-bad run, with small pairs as my undoing so when I looked and saw a pair of dueces, almost mocking me, I had to laugh. There was something about the semitry of a pair of dueces all-in for 200 that was irrissistable (any pair in that situation was gravy). Of course, even before my turn, the biggest stack raises. I think to myself this is not a good sign but with a tiny silver lining of eliminating the other players and getting us heads up for the rest of the hand. After I commit myself all-in the other small stack went all-in himself leaving three in.
If it had been on the WPT the drama would have been increcredible but on Party Poker after the last guy went all-in the cards just machine gunned out, the other small stack disappeared, and I raked in an 800 chip pot.
Upon further review I found that the other short stack was holding A7 while the large stack had me in big trouble with a pair of 5s. After a flop of QQK I had a 12 percent chance of surviving the hand. As luck would have it the turn had brought my 3rd duece giving me a full house. I went on to win the tourney.
I don't tell this to express how great I am, because I am not, but to illustrate once again that you really never are out of it until your last chip is gone. I see it time and time again that when player gets down to 400-500 chips they give up. While my example is admittedly on the extreme end of the spectrum, if it happened to me, it can happen to you.

Good post -- always a good thing to remember.

You will often try your best and fail when you get into a tough spot like that, but you just won $50 when you could easily have gone down to zero had you been more reckless before you got that pair of twos. Even if a short-stacked situation where you have a chance to win the SNG only comes up once every 100 SNGs, keeping sharp with the short stack can increase your ROI by almost 5%!!! That's huge.

Oh, yes, countless times I've come back from a desperate situation to at least finish ITM and even sometimes win the thing -- often enough that I don't make desperation moves any more. I'll make stupid moves, but never one caused by desperation.

A chip and a chair is a cliche, but it's a cliche worth believing in. Keep your head in the game, stay smart and don't give up until you've lost that last chip. You'll be surprised how often that will pay off.