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I play poker on a website that doesn't charge any money, though it does have some tournament prizes. Since the players don't pay anything, they tend to place pretty low value on their chips, so I see a lot of all-ins.

In this situation, what happens pretty regularly is that there will be multi-way pots where a short stack is all-in. My question is, under what circumstances should you try to continue building a side pot in these hands (assuming you don't have the nuts). This is the one situation where having the second best hand could potentially pay off.

Paul in NC

Answer:

Hi Paul,
This is a very interesting question that has been debated a lot in forums and books. Many players think that you should almost always check down hands when a player is all-in in order to increase the odds of knocking him/her out. I am not one of them.

There are two main reasons to continue betting if you hit a decent hand when a player is all-in. The first one is, as you said, to continue to build the pot and win more money when you have a hand (doesn't have to be the nuts). The second is to protect your hand. You hit a decent flop and bet to prevent your opponent(s) from outdrawing you for free.

The only thing I don't do here is bluffing or betting very weak hands, because there's a great risk that the other players fold and the all-in player wins the main pot. But don't be overcautious and always protect hands that you think have a pretty decent chance to win the pot.

My point is - don't stop playing your hand just because one player is all-in.

Regards, Clark
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