All-In Overbets When Acting First

The feature that characterizes no-limit hold’em is the ability to bet all of one’s stack. Going all in is an important part of the game. In this column, I will focus on whether or not you should go all in on the flop betting round when acting first. I will discuss situations when the best play is to bet all of your money and situations when this would be incorrect.

An important factor in deciding whether or not you should go all in is the size of your stack. (The amount actually in play is the smaller of yours or your opponent’s, but for the purpose of discussion, we will assume that you are the one with less money.)

Generally speaking, when the pot is relatively small and you have a lot of chips, you bet only a portion of your stack. This is based on the (misleading?) idea that you would not put a large stack at risk to chase a small pot unless you had the nuts. Nevertheless, on a number of occasions, I have made an all-in wager as large as 10 times the amount of the pot size — and did not have the nuts on any of those occasions. I also have seen others make this big an overbet (but they usually had the nuts). I must admit that when I did it, the play was made for psychological reasons, I had a very good hand, and I was convinced that my opponent did not have me beat. For example, on one occasion, I was up against one of the blinds with a flop of K-9-6, and I had three nines. Although pocket kings theoretically could have been out, I had never seen my opponent slow-play aces or kings from one of the blinds. I admit that making a normal bet instead of a huge overbet was an equally valid choice in all of these hands.

On the hand I mentioned above, I actually got paid off by top pair. Opponents sometimes think a large bet shows fear, and play you for having a draw rather than a made hand. It makes no sense to avoid overbetting the pot to get all in because you are concerned about not getting paid off by a player who you think will put you on weakness for your overbet. Having said that, I am going to suggest that you do not overbet the pot size (to get all in) by more than about four times the amount in the pot. This would be the amount of a bet and pot-size raise.

Here are some reasons to go all in, as opposed to making a pot-size wager (of course, there is likely to be a combination of reasons in many of your decisions):
1. You want to apply maximum money pressure in order to drive your opponent out of the pot.
2. There are drawing cards on the board and you do not want to play guessing games regarding whether or not your opponent is helped on the turn.
3. You have a big draw and do not want your opponent to put you all in if you miss on the turn, or get away from his hand if you hit.
4. You suspect that your opponent is on a draw and you want to force him to make a tough decision.
5. You want to nullify your opponent’s positional advantage.

Let’s now discuss some concrete situations. There is $100 in the pot and you have $400 in your stack. You are acting first on the flop in an unraised pot. Assume that your options are to check, bet about the size of the pot, or bet all of your chips.

(A) You have K-Q with a K Q 3 flop. I would bet all of my money here. Top two pair is a huge favorite to be the best hand. A set of treys is possible, but you are supposed to be an optimist when you have enough money for only a bet and a raise. There are lots of drawing cards on the board, so you do not want to wait for a safe card when almost half of the deck is dangerous to you. Let’s suppose that you check, your opponent also checks, and the possible flush comes. Even if you are not beat, there is now a flock of dangerous river cards.

(B) You have the A 10 with the same flop, K Q 3. A royal-flush draw is certainly a good enough hand to bet all of your money. Pro players like to joke that the virtue of going all in is that you certainly will not make any more mistakes. Betting only a portion of your chips puts you in danger of your opponent folding if the flush comes, and moving all in if the flush does not come. (On your good days, you hit the gutshot straight, but that is a rare event.)

© You have the 9 7 with the same flop, K Q 3. This hand is far worse than the previous hands, because if you bet all of your chips and get called, you may need an air-sickness bag. If I were acting first in a three-way pot, I probably would dog it and check. Heads up, an all-in bet is reasonable if your opponent did not show any strength preflop. Note that if you bet the size of the pot and get raised all in, there is not a lot of difference between calling and folding, in my opinion. You are getting laid 2-1 odds, and are probably about a 2-1 underdog to make the flush. If you face a set or a larger flush draw, the proper play is to fold. If you are up against top pair, a call is a tiny bit better than folding if your opponent does not have a spade bigger than your 9. All in all, I would prefer that you bet all in than bet the size of the pot, because your fold equity is increased (you will win more pots without a fight). Here’s one more point: I would be more likely to bet all of my chips in a tournament than in a cash game. At least I am getting my chips in with some kind of a hand. If I wait, I may get ground out of my chips without giving any fight at all, or I may be nearly broke when I do catch a favorable hand to play.

We have not really covered much ground here, but the message that I am trying to convey is clear: When you have enough for two bets (meaning a bet and a raise or a bet of four times the big blind), it may well be the right play to bet all of your chips instead of making a pot-size bet. This puts the maximum pressure on your opponent, and relieves you of having to play guessing games later in the hand. If you are acting first, it also wipes out your positional disadvantage. Overbetting the pot size to get all in is another tool in your poker toolbox; use it when appropriate.

Bob Ciaffone has authored four poker books, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, Pot-limit and No-limit Poker, Improve Your Poker, and Omaha Poker. All can be ordered from Card Player. Ciaffone is available for poker lessons: e-mail [email protected]. His website is www.pokercoach.us, where you can get his rulebook, Robert’s Rules of Poker, for free. Bob also has a website called www.fairlawsonpoker.org.