Winning Wisdom

At only 27 years old, Gavin Griffin already holds one of the most impressive collections of poker's most prestigious titles: World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour, and World Poker Tour championships.

Now, Card Player is giving its readers a chance to send questions directly to the poker prodigy.

Poker fans can send Griffin their questions to [email protected]. The questions can be about anything from poker strategy to his opinions on certain aspects of poker or his life as a poker pro traveling the circuit. The best questions will be answered by Griffin and published in Card Player. If your question makes it into print, we'll send you a free Card Player T-shirt.

Multiway All-In Pot Strategy

Gavin:

I am 1hugeidiot on PokerStars. I am like many players, trying to break through to the big-tourney circuit. I live and breathe poker every day, and read everything I can find on poker, including your column regularly. My question (and I have never seen anything written on it) is about how to play pots with multiple players in the pot and one or more all-in players. I see so many mistakes made in this area in critical spots in tourneys. Should you check it down to eliminate an all-in player or try to get tons more chips from the other deep-stacked players? I respect your play and would love to read your feedback on this neglected area of no-limit tourney play. Thanks, and I hope to meet you at the tables someday.

- Rich Ariessohn, San Diego, California

Hi, Rich:

This is a situation that many people misunderstand, and there are a lot of different variations on the same situation that can really change the way you play. We'll take a look at a few situations from a tournament with a $1,000 buy-in and 507 players. Let's see what the correct play is in each situation.

Situation No. 1: It's early in the tournament and the under-the-gun player, who was just crippled, moves in for three big blinds. You call from middle position, and two others call, including the big blind. Everyone besides Mr. All In has near the starting stack, call it 100 big blinds. Whether or not there is a side pot really means nothing in this situation, but it can in others, so we will say there isn't one. The main pot is 12.5 big blinds. In this situation, there is no use in checking it down. You should play this pot out in a regular manner, except that you should probably bluff less than normal due to the fact that everyone is going to see your cards. You shouldn't change the frequency of your value-betting or semibluffing. In fact, you should probably do them with a wider range, since most people tend to think that it's correct to bet only with your very best hands when someone is all in, and you can take advantage of that. This is a common mistake, because eliminating one player really makes no difference whatsoever in regard to what is going on in the tournament.

Situation No. 2: There are 55 people left, and 54 get paid $1,475. The average stack is 50 big blinds. A short stack has moved all in for five big blinds and has been called by you and another player. There is no side pot, and there are 16.5 big blinds in the main pot. This is one of those spots in which you should probably check it down with most hands and bet only with your good hands. You should protect hands like top pair and good kicker, but not bluff or semibluff. Eliminating a player increases your payout from nothing to $1,475. This is a large difference in the amount of money you are receiving, and it will go a long way toward improving your table image. If you were to force out the winning hand and also keep the all-in player alive, the other people at your table would usually get upset with you. If you are going to be at this table for a while, I would suggest playing more solidly, so that people aren't upset with you over this.

Situation No. 3: There are now 27 people left. There was just a pay jump and there won't be another one until 18 players remain. The average stack is about 40 big blinds. The under-the-gun player raises to four times the big blind, another player calls, you call, and the big blind calls all in for two big blinds. There are eight-and-a-half big blinds in the main pot and six big blinds in the side pot. You definitely should be playing this hand like you would if there were no all-in player. Eliminating a player doesn't really mean anything, there is a side pot, and the whole pot is one-third the average stack size. This pot represents a sizable chunk of chips and could do quite a lot for your stack. You also would be showing the people at your table that you are capable of any play if you were to bluff at this pot. Finally, the misconception that you should check it down in this situation means that you should be betting more hands, because people will be expecting you to have a good hand when you bet.

Situation No. 4: There are three people left. Third place receives $38,137 and second receives $73,768. One player is all in for 15 big blinds preflop, and both you and the other player have called. The pot is 45 big blinds and there is no side pot. You both have 30 big blinds remaining. The only time that you should bet in this situation is if you have a hand approaching the nuts. Moving up one spot nearly doubles your payout, and you still have a workable stack going to heads-up play if you lose or for playing three-handed if the all-in player wins. If you have only 10 big blinds remaining, you may want to move in with a wider range after the flop, since you are in much worse shape if the all-in player wins.

The short answer to your question, Rich, is that it depends on the situation. There are so many variables to how to play when a player is all in that it is impossible to cover them in one column. I think I have done a good job of picking out some things that you may encounter on a regular basis regarding stack sizes, number of players left, relevant payouts, and the size of the pots in play. Keep an eye out for all-in situations that can be taken advantage of and ones to avoid taking advantage of in order to create a better table image for yourself. As always, it is so important to be paying attention to what is going on around you, to be alert, and to use all of the information that you can gather to your advantage. Best of luck, Rich; see you around.

Gavin Griffin is a member of Team PokerStars. Visit his website at www.gavingriffin.net.