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Going All the Way

Recently, in the early stages of a no limit sit-n-go I found 2-3 of clubs in the small blind. After a raise and three callers, I decided the pot odds were correct to call. The flop came Q-7-2, with two clubs. First to act, I had bottom pair and a baby flush draw. Now what?

I could bet roughly the size of the pot, hoping no one would come over the top. Or, I could check and call a reasonable bet, hoping to turn a club. But both of these plays were weak, leaving too many options to my opponents on a hand I figured to play to the end anyway.

So, I moved all in. To my dismay, the original raiser quickly called with A-Q off-suit, showing top pair/top kicker. Another queen hit the turn, making my play look pretty bad. So when I rivered a club to make my flush and win the pot, some of the other players called me lucky, chiding me for such a "reckless" play. How could I go all in with just a pair of deuces?

The truth is, all-in plays are almost always reckless to some degree, because we seldom have the absolute nuts when we do it. Most of the time there is a hand out there that can beat us, and we are betting all our chips that our opponent doesn't have it.

When is the right time to move all-in? Well, it's never crystal clear and more often than not, it's a hazy area. Many factors must be considered, such as position, chip counts, style of play, texture of the board etc. Is it a cash game or tournament? Is your opponent tight or loose?

One reason I liked the aforementioned was it turned my poor seat position into favorable position. Now the tough decision lay with my opponent. The odds that no one would call the over-bet were probably 50-50, and with 14 outs, any trey gives me two pair, any deuce gives me a set, and any club makes my flush, so my odds of winning against a single higher pair were about 50-50. That in effect, gave me two coin flips to win, whereas my opponent would only have one.

Would I have called all in with the same hand? No. If the play were taken away from me, I would lose my advantage, so under most circumstances, I would lay down the hand.

Before the flop, many players like to re-raise all in with K-K because it is a "made" hand, and they are almost always a favorite when they do. But as a tournament player, I would rather see the flop before I put all my chips and my tournament life into the pot with kings. If a single ace (without a king) flops, which happens roughly 19 percent of the time, I can grudgingly get away from my hand. If no ace flops, I can push with full force, confident that my hand is best with two cards to come.

My feeling is, why put all the money in up front, giving my opponent a full board to catch an ace? Why not make sure I'm in the best possible shape before putting all my money into the pot? Many players will bet the flop after raising pre-flop, no matter what card hits. So you can usually count on another sizeable bet going into the middle before re-raising for all your chips.


	Healthy to gamble * Online poker gambling * Handy Tips for Coinless Slot Machines *
healthy to gamble

Going All the Way Recently, in the early stages of a no limit sit-n-go I found 2-3 of clubs in the small blind. After a raise and three callers, I decided the pot odds were correct to call. The flop came Q-7-2, with two clubs. First to act, I had bottom pair and a baby flush draw. Now what? I could bet roughly the size of the pot, hoping no one would come over the top. Or, I could check and call a reasonable bet, hoping to turn a club. But both of these plays were weak, leaving too many options to my opponents on a hand I figured to play to the end anyway. So, I moved all in. To my dismay, the original raiser quickly called with A-Q off-suit, showing top pair/top kicker. Another queen hit the turn, making my play look pretty bad. So when I rivered a club to make my flush and win the pot, some of the other players called me lucky, chiding me for such a "reckless" play. How could I go all in with just a pair of deuces? The truth is, all-in plays are almost always reckless to some degree, because we seldom have the absolute nuts when we do it. Most of the time there is a hand out there that can beat us, and we are betting all our chips that our opponent doesn't have it. When is the right time to move all-in? Well, it's never crystal clear and more often than not, it's a hazy area. Many factors must be considered, such as position, chip counts, style of play, texture of the board etc. Is it a cash game or tournament? Is your opponent tight or loose? One reason I liked the aforementioned was it turned my poor seat position into favorable position. Now the tough decision lay with my opponent. The odds that no one would call the over-bet were probably 50-50, and with 14 outs, any trey gives me two pair, any deuce gives me a set, and any club makes my flush, so my odds of winning against a single higher pair were about 50-50. That in effect, gave me two coin flips to win, whereas my opponent would only have one. Would I have called all in with the same hand? No. If the play were taken away from me, I would lose my advantage, so under most circumstances, I would lay down the hand. Before the flop, many players like to re-raise all in with K-K because it is a "made" hand, and they are almost always a favorite when they do. But as a tournament player, I would rather see the flop before I put all my chips and my tournament life into the pot with kings. If a single ace (without a king) flops, which happens roughly 19 percent of the time, I can grudgingly get away from my hand. If no ace flops, I can push with full force, confident that my hand is best with two cards to come. My feeling is, why put all the money in up front, giving my opponent a full board to catch an ace? Why not make sure I'm in the best possible shape before putting all my money into the pot? Many players will bet the flop after raising pre-flop, no matter what card hits. So you can usually count on another sizeable bet going into the middle before re-raising for all your chips.