03-22-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

Using All-In Raises In Tourneys

Question: Twice a week, about 13 of us play in a $20 buy in tourney at my house. The competition is a mixed bag, with about 4-5 good players, and the rest are OK but nothing special. I usually end up in the final 3 or 4 every time as do the other good players.

One strategy I just began to use was a constant all-in strategy. I only use this when the blinds are fairly high (50-100 and up). Basically, if I知 in late position or occasionally in middle position, and there are a few limpers in, I will go all in with any pair (including 2-2, 3-3, and 4-4), and also AK, AQ, AJ. I do this because no one has shown strength and most of the time no one will call if I have a decent chip stack. I will pick up the blinds most of the time, and occasionally I will get a caller which is fine by me since most of the time I will be a favorite or in a coin flip situation.

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

The past three tourneys, ive used this strategy and won twice and finished 2nd when the guy got lucky on a river to beat me. In the past, I played super tight and I would usually make it to the top 4 or 5 but with a low chip stack because of how tight I played. I would limp in with low pairs rather than play them aggressively and that usually led to me being blinded away towards the end.

I only do this in the middle to late stages of a tourney where the blinds are worth something. I would rather put my opponent on a decision on whether he wants to risk his tourney on a middle pair or Ax, KQ, etc. If the guy has a big pair, then that痴 poker and I値l take the defeat, but I値l take my chances on the guy not having a big pair. If they want to gamble with me, then so be it but I will be the one in the lead most of the time which is why I like this strategy. Do you think this is a sound strategy in a bigger tournament format?? Is this a good strategy, period?? Thanks for your help

JJ

Answer: The first thing that I think about after I read this was that you are doing something right: You've adapted to the game you are playing in and you have found a move that has proved profitable. Now would this move work just as well in all games? In tougher games? Maybe, maybe not. It is a strong move and it will scare most players since if you are doing it sparingly, with a range of decent hands that play well heads up, they are going to be hard pressed to gamble with you. I think the better players, if given the option, would eventually try to trap you doing this by limping in with a big hand, but that takes a lot of variables coming together for that to happen.

I think more likely how you would end up losing doing this is picking someone who wouldn't give it enough thought and call your small pair with a marginal hand and outflop you. So maybe you'll want to reserve this play only against people who are capable of folding; that is assuming you don't want them to call. See in tournaments, you aren't looking for places to put your money in with coin flips. You actually would prefer if you never had to do that -- it isn't a happy moment. So with the 44, 55 and other hands like that you don't actually want someone to call you since the likelihood of them having two overcards is high.

If you have all the chips in the world, who cares; you're happy to give them a 50/50 of busting out, but if you are putting your tourney on the line in these situations it will add up. It might be better to put in a good sized raise preflop and then bet the flop with the little pair since they only will get to see 3 cards instead of 4 to catch something they want to call with.

Your rating:

Click on the clover of your choice

User Rating: (0 Votes)

  • Share on Facebook
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us