When should you consider going all-in in poker?

 

When should you consider going all-in in poker?

This article will cover all-ins in poker: what they are, rules, and the relevant factors to consider when going all-in.

What Is an All-in?

When a player is all-in, it simply means that they have risked – by betting, raising, or calling - all of their remaining chips.  

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Types of Poker Actions

See below for relevant terminology. 

  • Bet – placing an initial wager. Requires there to have been no wages placed beforehand on the current street.
  • Call – matching an opponent's wager. Requires there to have been a wager placed before you on the current street.
  • Check – opting not to place a wager, and passing the action to the next player (or street, if there are no players behind). Requires there to have been no wages placed beforehand on the current street.
  • Fold – forfeiting our hand facing a wager. Requires there to have been a wager placed before you on the current street, with the exception of open folding (where a player folds without facing a wager) which there is typically no incentive for. 
  • Raise – increase the size of an opponent's wager. Requires there to have been a wager placed before you on the current street.
  • All-in - a variant of the bet, call, or raise, involving a player wagering all of their remaining chips. Requirements vary based on the action type (betting, raising, or calling all-in).

Going All-in - Rules

  • Table stakes – a player cannot wager more chips than are present at the table. 
  • Side pots – created in multi-way scenarios where one player is all-in, but the remaining players retain additional chips to play for. To take an example, consider a multi-way all-in scenario between player A who has $50, and players B and C who have $100 each. Player A stands to win a $150 side pot, whereas players B and C stand to win the entire $250 pot (the $150 side pot as well as the remaining $100).  

Going All-in - Factors to Consider

Stack depth and stack to pot ratio (SPR) - are effective stacks deep or shallow? Is the SPR high or low? The deeper the effective stacks, the stronger our hand needs to be to risk all of our chips, and vice versa when shallow.

Relevant hand strength – do you have a strong or weak hand, relative to what your opponent represents? Relative hand strength is important because it provides context by taking into account your opponent's potential range of hands (where absolute hand strength does not); context is key when considering risking all of our chips!

Opponent's tendencies – is your opponent particularly loose, or tight? Aggressive, or passive? Make sure to factor in your opponent's tendencies when considering going all-in. See the table below for a few examples of how you should look to adjust versus different tendencies. 

Opponent’s Tendency

Adjustment

Calls too frequently

Bluff less, value bet more thinly

Calls too infrequently

Bluff more, value bet less thinly

Bluffs too frequently

Call more 

Bluffs too infrequently

Call less

Hopefully, this article has helped you to better understand all-ins in poker. In conclusion, an all-in is simply a bet, raise or call for all of a players remaining chips. When going all-in, make sure to consider stack depth, relative hand strength, and your opponent's tendencies!

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