9) Strategy: Going All In

Going All In
In the previous post we discussed various playing strategies when you are behind in chip count. Let's now take a look at the ultimate aggressive bet, the all in move. Regardless of your button position, if things are still not going well and you are falling farther behind, consider the all in bet. Going all in and winning can resuscitate your tournament life and put pressure on your opponents. Here's a rule of thumb to consider when contemplating an all in bet. If making a large bet and losing it would leave your stack crippled, go all in instead.

EXAMPLE - Hand 7 @ 25,000 max/1,000 min
You 16,000 chips (Button)
Seat 2 24,500 chips
Seat 3 31,000 chips
Seat 4 24,000 chips
Seat 5 26,000 chips
Seat 6 36,000 chips
Seat 7 29,000 chips

In this example notice that betting 5,000 chips and losing would leave you with 11,000 chips and possibly mathematically eliminated (shut out) for the EH hand 8. Even winning the bet and moving up to 21,000 chips could still leave you in last place. The better action is to go all in and have a shot at joining the leaders with 32,000 chips. With the EH next you're now probably not in last place and have more betting options at your disposal.

The Must Win Situation
You might find yourself in a position during an EH where you are trailing slightly and must win your wager in order to advance. This situation can arise when open betting by opponents makes it clear that this is your status. Notice in the example below that if Seats 3 or 5 either win or lose their bets you must still win a bet to pass them.

EXAMPLE - Hand 16 @ 25,000 max/500 min
You 18,000 chips
Seat 2 24,500 chips - Secret Bet (Button)
Seat 3 25,000 chips - bets 4,000
Seat 4 21,000 chips - Secret Bet
Seat 5 23,000 chips - bets 2,000

This is definitely and all in bet situation even though you just need a small amount to pass the EH. Again, since you must win the hand to survive going all in is preferable to betting just enough to get by. Make it worth your while by building a competitive stack with a win.

When behind in chips, reality dictates that you should always consider the all in option. Rarely will you get such good cards that you are never in danger of elimination. You will have to take a stand and win one or more key hands to survive and succeed. One final thought.....if you're behind and unsure of what to do, it's rarely a mistake to go all in.