Tips for Going All-In
Tip #9 – When to go All-In
Going all-in in Texas Holdem is always one of the most risky decisions to make. This is simply because you are out of the game/tournament if someone else has a better hand.
People who play poker online tend to abuse the power of the All-In move. Either they take it too lightly, or they simply think they can always bully other people into folding.
That’s why I think that this is one of the most important online poker tips.
When you should go all-in
The first rule of going all-in is this: only go all-in before the flop if you don’t have many other options left. I would venture to say that this would be when you are left with about 3 to 4 big blinds in chips. At this point of any poker tournament you are playing, you want to have enough chips left to make other players fold mediocre starting hands that could otherwise beat you.
Folding out until you only have 2 big blinds left will get you into trouble because you will most likely have to beat at least two other players. Unless you have a string of terrible starting hands (I’m thinking no better than 9-5 offsuit), you should be able to go all-in and make it a 50/50 showdown with a 3x big blind raise.
The best situation to try this is when no one else has called the big blind before you. The closer to the dealer you are, the better. If you only steal the blinds, then you are doing your job as a poker player to give yourself time and more hands to play.
This scenario gives you the best chance to give yourself enough chips in order to see more hands and wait for the right time to make your move.
Other scenarios to go all-in
There are very few times where you should be going all-in before the flop with pocket aces. That’s not to say you don’t raise with aces because you will certainly only want 2 opponents at most when playing with aces. The exception to this rule is when someone else has a significant raise, think 4x the big blind or higher. Only do this if you are risking more than half your overall chips to re-raise the player.
Letting this person go to flop with a call can be dangerous as you may be setting yourself up for an early exit. Two pairs, flushes and straights are not that uncommon for you to have your aces cracked.
A post-flop scenario for going all-in in Texas Hold’em is when you are unable to afford a loss, hence making yourself extremely short stacked. Simple rule is that you don’t start betting all of your chips if you aren’t sure you are going to win the hand. Going all-in in these situations will give your opponent pause and stop them from completing their hand on the turn/river.
Risking all of your chips in this fashion is not without risk, though. You must be aware of any potential straights or flushes on the board, or anything else that may be able to beat your hand.
If you raise pre-flop and someone else calls, you can be fairly certain that he isn’t going for a low/medium straight possibility. Being able to eliminate these kind of options for your opponent’s hand can help with your decision to be confident about putting all your chips in the center.
What not to do – Situations you should avoid
I’m going to be honest; there are way too many online poker players that will go all-in at the drop of a hat. A lot of times, these players look very impatient like they are playing mobile poker and have there attention elsewhere. Others who do this simply think they can bully everyone else out of the hand. This act will only accomplish a couple of things in certain scenarios.
Let’s say that I call or had a small raise pre-flop, something that wouldn’t scare many other players away. The one mistake I see players make is going all in because they have the top pair plus an ace.
7 times out of 10, you’ll scare everyone else away and seriously stunt your ability to make a serious dent in another player’s chip stack. 1 out of 10 times, you’ll get a sucker that also has top pair. The other 2 out of 10 times, you’re going to be in some serious trouble. Two pairs is something that you won’t often come back from and if you made it cheap for other players at first, you’re digging your own grave.
The big mistake I see people making in Texas Hold’em is going all-in when it isn’t warranted. When the risk vs reward doesn’t make sense, like going all-in to win a small pot, the outcome is easy to see: You are going to negate possible big wins when everyone else folds and the only time you are going to be called is when someone else has you beat.
Going all-in can be a powerful statement to everyone else at the poker table. Abusing this power by not treating the move with respect will earn you many more disappointing moments then you need to endure. Using the all-in move to win blinds and small pots is not necessary, unless you are already in dire straights.
You game will improve, as well as your winnings, if you follow the advice on this and other articles found at 99pokertips.com, such as classifying your poker opponents.
