 When small stack is all in.
One thing that I thought was common knowledge but obviously is not among newer players is what to do when the short stack is all-in. What is the correct play in this situation? Of course you want as many people out of the tournament as possible. It helps everyone's position in the tourney to finish higher in the money. Let me give you a situation from la game I played in last night.
There were 5 players at the table with blinds of 50/100. The short stack has about $250 and in first position. The highest stack is very aggressive and is in last position. The small blind and the big blind both post their blinds. The short stack goes all in. I am in 2nd position with 9,9. I just called as I would have done with any 2 cards since he was all in. The largest stack raises to $800 to kick everyone else out of action. Of course now the small and the big both fold. I know I have a decent hand but I fold. The high stack shows A, 4 and the short stack shows 10, 8. Of course the short stack would go all in b/c he is desperate and the blinds are about to hit him. The flop is 9,10,5. The turn is a Q. The river is a 6. What just happened here? Let's review.
The short stack just tripled up (almost quad'd up) and now is still in the game with $900. Why am I bringing up this? Because since the short stack was all in all I just called all the high stack had to do was call. The small and big would have probably called as well b/c of pot odds and they already had money in the pot. If this would have happened you would have had 4 hands vs. 1 hand and you could have checked it down to eliminate the low stack. The odds of 8 cards hitting something over 2 cards is very good. Obviously if I would not have folded I would have hit trips and someone else at the table might have hit as well. After the flop/turn/river feel free to bet but only if you are pretty positive that you have won. This would have been one player out of the tourney but because of the actions of one player (who didn't even have a powerful hand) the tourney continued.
As it turns out that player that went all in ended up having enough chips to hang on and actually made the money (3rd place). This is just polite poker etiquette, and is a general good idea in this situation. Remember, the goal is to get everyone out before you. Even if I had 2 crap cards (ie: 7, 2) I still would have called probably b/c the short stack probably has nothing. Who knows, you may hit a 2 on the flop and he may not hit at all. What is it really costing you? $250. That really is nothing when the average stack is 2500-3000. Remember, play smart poker and don't be "that guy" at the table.
A situation that bothers me even more then this is when a player goes all in and there are 2 callers one of which is me. I flop middle pair which is very marginal but not bad. Check Check. Another higher card then my pair comes out. The other caller then goes all in. Obviously with 2nd to bottom pair I can't call and fold. The short stack shows bottom pair and the person that bet to make me fold turns over A high and lets the short stack triple up. Now if this idiot doesnt go all in the player is knocked out and we are 1 closer to the money. But honestly what was the purpose of him going all in. All he did was prompt me to fold and he lost the hand of course because he had nothing. So basically his bluff kept the short stack in the game and earned him no chips. Wow what a great play. If I would of called in that situation both of them would of been gone so basically nothing good was gonna come out of that bluff for him. What an idiot. Guys if a player is all in unless you have the absolute nuts just check around a take him out.
ELON05  |