Posted Sun May 09, 2004 12:35 am GMT by StarlightCoast
I have been playing mostly freeroll of late and I usually always finish in the top 10 percent or better but usually out of the money. and my chip count is always below the average. I rarely go all in until after the flop. Is this wrong? When do you other players go all in before the flop? On the World Poker Tour on tv i constantly watch to try to gain insight in wisdom I see them doing so with AK suited or not AQ suited or not pocket kings pocket aces and even pocket 10's. So my question is when do you go all in preflop and are you usually successful when you do?
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Posted Sun May 09, 2004 3:09 am GMT by Sh1rp
It's usually a judgement call. You have to factor in the amount of people still in the hand, the strength of your hand, the situation as far as what betting has happened, the threat your all-in will be... that's all I can think of at the moment... I'm sure there's more.
Posted Sun May 09, 2004 10:25 am GMT by LadeJarl
Don't use WPT as a guideline, they play a different game than the rest of us 
When to go all-in???
Read some books and get some fundmental understanding of poker theory. That gives you a great fundation for understanding what is happening at the table.
It all depends on your stack too. If I'm on a shortstack, I'm a lot more agressive with all-ins than when I'm a chip-leader.
AA is always a good hand to go all-in with, no matter what your table-position is.
Else, experience and reads is what should tell you when to go all-in, no single answer is correct here.
Posted Mon May 10, 2004 10:18 am GMT by mangothebear
There are two reasons to go all-in before the flop:
1) You want everyone to fold so you can steal the blinds/bets already made;
2) You want someone to call so you can double up/take all their chips.
If the blinds are small and no one has raised ahead of you, then going all-in and scaring everyone off and taking the small pot has little value, especially if you have a strong hand that would likely still win after the flop. However, IF there is significant money in the pot already (because someone has raised in front of you and gotten callers) and you are confident that you have the best hand pre-flop (pocket pairs or two high cards), then it might be worth it to go all-in to steal the current pot. I would usually feel more confident doing this with pocket pairs then something like AK because you already have a pair in your hand and any caller would have to outdraw you to win (if they don't have a pocket pair of their own). This is especially true with a low/medium sized pocket pair because it is unlikely that you would win with a lot of people seeing the flop but most players would fold if they don't have a pocket pair of their own. This would mean at most you would get one or two callers with overcards and they would have to outdraw you to win. Add that both of them would probably have an ace to make that call and your odds of being outdrawn decrease.
If you have a good drawing hand like AK suited, you would rather have more people play the flop in case you make your draw so you can take an even bigger pot when you raise (or go all-in).
With AA, I would raise but probably not go all-in unless I know someone will call because it's a waste to go all-in with pocket aces and steal the blinds when the chances are you would win after the flop anyways (but there is a chance someone could catch their flush/straight/two pair with this hand so you want to raise to eliminate some of the weaker draws and you also have to study the flop carefully). Still, winning really small blinds by going all-in preflop with AA isn't much of a payoff so you have to take that risk and hope someone catches top pair on the board at the flop. However, if you know someone WILL call your pre-flop all-in, then do it because you will be a huge favorite to win heads up.
Posted Sat May 22, 2004 2:03 pm GMT by Jauron
I generally go all in on a short stack with a premium hand or to reraise a raiser (or even better a raise and reraise) with a premium hand.
I'll also consider going all in after the flop aftering checking in early position when I flop a set. A check raise all in can be a great way to generate money. Worse case senerio is you get whats in the pot, but usually by that point the pot is big enough to get the original raiser to call you.
If you have pocket J's or Q's and the flop brings all undercards, and I'm in late position I might go all in and race, your getting good odds there IMHO.
In tourneys when your first to act with a small pair it might not be a bad idea to go all in with them if you choose to play. More times than not you can steal the blinds with a hand that you probably aren't making much money on unless you hit your set, and if you get called, your probably in a race.
I rarely go all in though, I should probably go all in more, but I use it sparingly. I might go all in on a draw if I sense weakness.
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