Learn To Play Poker Online Free And Master Moving All-In At Poker
August 28th, 2010 -
Posted by: tk2009 in action, tags: free online poker, how play all in, learn to play poker for free, poker
Moving all-in is the most serious of all manoeuvres in poke, be it free online poker or high stakes games.
Generally you should only consider moving all in if you have a hand that stands a good chance against powerful hands such as A-K and A-Q which are the most common hands played all-in.
It is because these are the hands also most willing to call. Which hands, then, are we willing to put our tournament life on? Pocket pairs spring to mind. So does A-K (or A-Q or even K-Q suited or K-J suited if you are running out of chips)
But someone does it differently. I would like to add that here; player B is an impatient, rowdy player who is familiar to us TV poker fans.
BLINDS 12k/24k
A has Ad-Kd raises 75k
A’s raise is simply standard for A-K suited, although it is slightly stronger (the average preflop raise is about 2.5x the big blind, but this raise is a little greater than thrice). But look at B’s move, which might be less standard:
B has 10c-5c moves all-in 544k
What about that: a 10-5? With about 22 big blinds left, which is relatively a short-stack (but not so short), B moves all-in. But with a 10-5? B can wait for slightly better hands than this.
Now let us try to justify the 10-5 in this situation. If B did it with a small pair, he is a slight favourite (about 55-45). If with A-x (with x smaller than a King), he is a significant underdog (about 75-25).
By comparison with any 2 except Ace or King he is only about 66-34, much less of a disadvantage.
So with the win-rate of 10-5 against Ace King (B deciding that A’s hand is Ace King or alike is a gamble; if he is up against Ace Ace then he is a serious underdog at about 85-15) is simply the average of the win rate of a pocket pair against Ace King and the win rate of A-x against A-K, and as such not too nasty.
Moreover, with 10c-5c B has two live cards, compared with A-x, where x is the only live card. Moreover, B may dislike having 22 big blinds dwindle to, say, 15 or 14 later, so he decides to put his heart and soul into this hand. Who is this player, anyway? “I’ve got a 10-5, boys and girls.” You heard right, the garrulous Mike Matusow! “The Mouth!”
A calls 469k (Pot 1.124m)
Now let us see how “The Mouth” will fare against all odds.
FLOP: Js-7c-5s
“That’s a Flop!” A Five fell, pairing Matusow!
TURN: Js-7c-5s-8d
RIVER: Js-7c-5s-8d-6d
Moving all-in can end up being the most dangerous moments in poker. Even in free online poker it is also the most thrilling, anyway. The all-in recharged Matusow’s stack to 45 big blinds.
This unconventional play is not exploitable forever, anyway. When Matusow figured player A had an AK or the like he is basically gambling.
While most players will work a strategy where they will call with pocket pairs I doubt in this case that A will call with anything less than 10-10.
Against AA, KK or a higher pair the 10-5 will only win approximately 15%. With 10-10 to 5-5 it’s approx. 25% and with 4-4 to 2-2, just about a coin flip.
All-In A Conclusion
Take the time to read and have an understanding of the principles behind this article. Aim to have an understanding of the key points behind what is going on with this example and consider ways to put these lessons into your own play.
It takes time to learn how to play poker at a level where you make money consistently.
But if (and when) you learn how to play poker well then you will make some good money. Why?
Simply that the vast majority of players you come up against never get to what can be termed a good level.
So if you can learn to play above average then it is not hard to make some good money. You certainly don’t need to play WSOP levels.
The fact that most players are at such a low competence will mean that when you hunt/play them on free online poker games or low stakes sites then you can clean up.
To learn to play poker for free go see the NoPayPOKER blog, the free poker lessons there cover all levels from beginner to expert, plus, the site itself as a free online poker site is the ideal place to practice what you learn.
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