The NoPayPOKER.com Free Online Poker Site Masters Guide to When to go All In Preflop
Why do players move all-in preflop during tournaments (especially in free texas holdem site tournaments) when they could just call and then hope to hit the Flop?
Well in cash games they do it to steal of course. In free poker sadly it’s more just for the hell of it! But if called, what positive factors does going all-in grant? I will look at 2 hands to analyse why:
HAND #1
Blinds: 6k/12k
A has Q-Q raises to 36k
B has 10-10 calls 36k
C has K-K reraises to 140k
A reraises all-in (Pot 989k)
B folds
C calls 643k (Pot 1.632m)
Board ended Jc-Jd-6c-Qd-3d
A moved all-in because by three-betting, he can push one of B and C from the pot, and if C (the likely caller) calls, A hoped that it will be A-K or A-x, where he has still an edge. But it turns out, C had K-K, so A was the underdog. Yet A won the hand with a Full House (Queens over Jacks).
But if A just called, what would happen then is that B would also call, and so it’s going to be a three-way pot.? On a FLOP of Jc-Jd-6c, C would have position over A, whose Queens are weakened since the Board is paired, so if one of B or C bluffs, A will have difficulty playing.
Plus if A decides to play on strong he may make B and C believe he is on a J and they may both fold. Or later on the hand, if A, who hit his Full House on the turn, suddenly played strongly, the remaining player/s may fold because their hands are not so strong enough. The result either way will be that A wins less than if he’d gone all in and taken the hand.
So one reason for moving all-in preflop is: Your chip stack is so low that any decent hand you have will be sufficient for an all-in (on the above, Q-Q should be played cautiously with two more players and a reraise on the Flop), and it pays to win more chips than less if you are to get back in the tournament.
HAND #2 – After some hand action
A has 8s-8h moves all-in 387k
B has 7d-7c, calls 307k (Pot 819k)
They could both have played safe.. But A decided to gamble with a common all-in hand. Common all-in hands include Pairs, A-x and any two face cards (preferably suited). So another reason is: If you don’t have A-A or K-K but a common all-in hand, you will be called also with a common all-in hand.
With Pairs vs. two overcards, it doesn’t really matter what you have, because you’re both even-money. With Pairs vs. Pairs, you run the risk of being the big underdog, but you can also be a big favorite if you are lucky. With anything else, you either have two live cards or at worst, say A-K vs A-Q, if you have the A-Q, you still have a 25% probability.
How did the hand turn out?
It ended with 5s-9s-6h-2c-8d. So A hit a Set, B hit a Straight. B eliminated A. It doesn’t matter; we can also imagine a situation that B was the one who moved all-in and A called. B hit his Straight still. But if B just decided to see a Flop, what would happen? A can push B out by representing a Nine on the Flop and the Turn so that B will fold (unless B has the courage to move all-in).
Also, if B hit the river Straight, A will be unwilling to play the Set he has. B will win a lesser amount of chips than he would (similar to HAND #1). But this example gives us another explanation.
You go all in that your marginal hand can’t be pushed away later by a more marginal hand, as a result your marginal hand becomes strong and uncontested.. Here’s a clear example, lets say it’s 7-7 vs A-10.
The board might finish 10-K-K-Q-5, with overcards there’s a Straight chance, and on a paired board the 7-7 can pressure the A-10 at some point. Or it may be 10-K-Q-4-J and the one with the A-10 will be out of the pot before the river if the one with 7-7 plays aggressively.
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