Learn Texas Holdem

Question: My question has to do with being "pot committed". I often hear, "He had to call the all in bet because he was pot committed". How do you know when you are pot committed? Is this a bigger factor in tournament play than in a ring game?

Thanks,

Mark

Answer:

Pot committed means that the pot is laying you such good odds, or that so many of your chips are already in the pot, that you have to call. Let me give you an example. Say you are in the big blind with 110 total. The blind is 100 so you only have 10 left. Unfortunately, you have the worst hand in poker, the 72. The small blind raises.

Now, it would be absurd here to fold for only 10 more, so you have to call. There is no hand in poker, even AA, that beats 72 so many times that 10 more would be a bad call. That is an extreme example, usually someone becomes pot committed when more than half of their stack is invested in a pot. Being pot committed happens just as often in a tournament as it does in a live game. One of the skills in no limit holdem is how to manipulate pot size to trap your opponent and maximize your winnings. Slow playing is something that uses pot commitment to reel someone in. Now, how do you know when you are pot committed?

This is a murky question because you need to take into account what your opponent might have. If you are certain that you are beat, it is never correct to call the river. Other times, you may have so much invested, and the pot is so large, that you might put more money in. Say you bet the whole way with AK, and you have 2/3's of your chips in the pot on the river when the opponent goes all-in. Here it would be very hard to fold. Another example might be if you raise preflop with a marginal hand and someone goes all-in for twice that amount. Since you are getting 3:1 on your money now if you call, it is very tough to fold, even though you know you are behind in the hand.