In the last issue we addressed some of the factors prompting players to make an “All-in” wager. First was the short stack making a move to enhance their tournament lifespan. As the blinds and antes creep upwards – or soar, depending on the tournament structure – there are fewer opportunities to make a profitable move. In desperation, the SS will push with Ace-anything or even a small pair hoping to double up (or even triple up) and perhaps capture some momentum keeping them in the running.
Another all-in move is by the player who in essence is a “one-trick pony.” That meaning, this player has no other strategy or tactic than the push. By pure aggression this type of player hopes that by mere dint of his stack size he will force others to fold and thus collect the blinds, antes and anything else thrown into the pot. There are counter-measures to this style of play that were presented in an article a few weeks back; suffice to say that the general description for this move is “isolate and destroy.”
A third reason for an all-in move is having the best hand at the time but the hand being a vulnerable one. An example might be flopping a set with the flop having coordinated cards (two – or even three – to a flush, or two high cards, worse if they’re suited. You know what I mean). An all-in push by the set holder makes it very difficult for the opponent with a draw to stay in the pot. Being a student of odds and probabilities – as we all should be – we know the probabilities of hitting a flush with two in the hand and two on the board are approximately 1 in 3 and the odds of pairing either of our two high cards (giving us a Full House) is even worse. Making it extremely difficult in calling an all-in bet here is the goal; drive out the player with a draw and keep the pot for yourself.
Yet another reason for an all-in bet is to force an opponent already in the pot to give up those chips they put there in the first place. In this instance, the all-in bet must be used with some discretion as the original bettor may just call the all-in bet because they indeed have a hand. A good read on the first player entering the pot is vital to the success of an all-in move at this point. As an example of this, I offer the following hand witnessed at a tournament last week.
The tournament blinds were $1,000 – $2,000 with no antes. A player in early-middle position made it $7,000 to go. This player had entered the last half-dozen or so pots with good-looking hands and had been lucky. He had pocket pairs (tens and jacks) twice and the rest of the time his cards were A-K twice, an A-Q and then K-Q and Q-J. When this player raised, I put him on a similar hand; most likely two connected high cards, possibly – but less so – a pocket pair. A player to my right who had played back from just $700 in chips (who now had about $13,000) went all-in. Everyone else folded and the original bettor thought about it for a minute or so, then called. The all-in showed pocket 7’s and the original bettor turned over pocket 9’s. Mister All-in got no help and he was gone from the tournament.
I can imagine both their thought processes. The original bettor, having a medium pocket pair, made a 3½ times the big blind wager to see if he could take the pot there and then or if facing resistance from another, decide how then to play. The all-in player, possibly putting the original bettor on two high cards, felt he had better than a 50-50 chance of winning the pot if indeed the first player had what he thought.
The first players call I felt was risky; any pair higher than the 9’s he actually held would beat him with small chance of tripping up and if the all-in bettor had two high cards he would be only a slight favorite. Putting another $6,000 in the pot virtually cut his stack in half. It was, I admit, a gutsy call but one fraught with hazards, dangers and pitfalls. But that’s poker, isn’t it?
The all-in move, as mentioned in the first of this series, has great drama and thus is shown on the televised poker shows with repetitive redundancy. But it should be utilized when there are actual good reasons for doing so. Bullying with this move may work for a while but someone who knows how to break the back of this move will soon do so. Desperation of the short stack is a good reason. This is a powerful move but can easily backfire on a player. Use it seldom, use it judiciously, and use it after thinking about poker.
