Going "all in" means betting all of your chips. It's a way to increase your chip count significantly when you get called and win. It's also a quick ticket home when you get called and loose. A common mistake amateur players make is that they go all to often, at the wrong times, and when it's not even necessary. When is the all in strategy best used? Let's explore that question.

Poker Situations Where You Should Go "All in"

Excluding heads up play which I will cover later, there are only three good reasons to go all in. The first being that you are convinced you have the best hand and you have your opponents beat. The second reason being that you are convince you can fool your opponent in thinking you have the best hand, regardless of what you actually hold. Things don't always work out the way you plan so beware of the "all in" move. If you're into tournament play, then there's a third reason to go all in and that's when you are one of the small stacks and you need to double up. Generally, you need to consider the all in play when your total chip counts is ten times the big blind or less. If you wait too long, the blinds will eat up your stack and you'll be out of the tournament before you know it.

Going "All in" and Table Image

The all in move is often used to "scare" someone away from the table by making them fold their cards. It is used to redirect the game pressure back to your opponents. This is especially effective if you have a tight player image, and you've played your hand in a way that makes it likely that you have a strong hand. That means raising pre-flop, and raising on the flop. The question you need to ask yourself is this: Do I really have to go all in to scare this opponent away, or can a hefty bet have the same result? The reason I say this is simple: sometimes you misread the entire situation and while you think you're outplaying everyone else, you are in fact the one being outplayed. If you go all in on a bluff and get called by someone who has more chips and has a better hand, then you're done. Had you instead raised the bet significantly, but not go all in, the results would probably be similar with the exception that you're not out of the game even when you loose. Yes, you lost chips, but at least you still have the pportunity to win them back. Let me give you an example:

In a 4 player hand, the blinds are 50-100.
Player 1 raises to 300 pre-flop (standard raise because it's 3 times the big blind).
Player 2 folds
Player 3 calls
Player 4 calls

Without knowing what player 3 and 4 have, you can make the following assumption: It's likely that they have either suited connectors, suited cards, any pair or high cards like A-K or something like that. The reason why players 3 and 4 would simply call and not raise is likely because they want to see the flop before they start making moves.

After the flop, the pot total is 900. Player 1 bets half the pot (450) Player 3 folds. Obviously, he didn't hit a card on the flop and this is getting too expensive for him.

Now, the interesting part. What does player 4 do? Does he fold, call, raise, or go all in. Player 4 is thinking that player 1 has a strong hand because he raised pre flop while being out of position, and raised again significantly after the flop. Player 4 has a pair of Kings at this stage, and the Ace on the flop worries him. If player 4 goes all in, he gives the message that he hit something good on the flop. He's telling player 1 that he has a really strong hand. He decides to go all in with the pair of kings (so far) with the hope that payer 1 will fold. Unfortunately, player 1 calls with an Ace. After the turn and river cards are laid, player 1 wins with a pair of Aces. Player 4 is out of the game because he had to give away all of his chips to player 1.

Was this a bad play on the part of player 4? I think so. First of all Player 4 didn't feel confident he had the best hand and underestimated player 1's obvious signals of a strong hand. Secondly, had player 4 simply raised after the flop instead of going all in, he could have gained valuable information from player 1 based on his reaction. If player one reraised again, then it was likely he had aces and player 4 could have folded his kings, taking a huge hit, but still remaining in the game.

As a general rule, unless you are positively convinced that you have the best hand, or you think you can scare your opponents and make them fold, you should never bet more than the pot value. A bet like that is normally sufficient to make someone back away when they think they are beat.

Going "All in" in Heads up Poker

"All in" while in a heads up situation is a different game. The risks are the same, and it's always easier for the big stack to go all in. The difference here is that you're playing against one opponent only. You only need to worry about one person busting you out. You only need to focus your attention on how that person plays and reacts, and you'll generally be more confident reading them. When in doubt, try a raise and study how your opponent reacts. If you get beat, there's always the next hand.

When playing heads up, the all in play is frequent. When you actually get a great starting hand, like AA, how should you play it? Should you go all in from the start, or should you gradually increase the wager? If you go all in with AA and your opponent folds, you've only managed to steal the blinds and that's not good. You should be able to do much better with a hand like AA. Sometimes, it's better to take it slow and use standard raises to start out. It all depends on you are playing against (their style) and who has the big stack. For example, if your opponent has 5 times the amount of chips than you, maybe going all in with AA is the right move. At that stage, he wants you out of the game and he'll take greater risks and if he has an Ace or a face card, he'll likely call. If you're playing Doyle Brunson, he'll probably call you with anything! Doyle has lost many games and tournaments because he got impatient at the end. If your opponent is anxious to wrap things up, then go all in pre-flop. If your opponent is taking his time, take your time too. And remember, putting someone all in puts a lot of pressure on them. If they don't have the goods and you have more chips than they do, they'll usually fold. Success with the all in plays is directly related to your ability to read the opponent. If you can't read them, you can't out play them.