General question about allin

When I go allin i do it because I expect i have the best hand. And most often I do have the best hand, because if I feel I don't have the best I will lay down my hand.

(The obvious exceptions are going allin preflop with KK and with AK and meeting a better hand, that is just the realities of poker.)

But apart from those, and going allin on later streets, I have the best hand in 3 out of 4 hands, maybe even 4 out of 5 hands.

HERE*S THE QUESTION
- Should I be happy about that - that I can read the opponent and situation well and save my money?
- Or should I take more chances, get my money in there much more, until I have the best hand only in 3 out of 5 cases maybe?

The percentages look great ...but are you winning because there are no callers ..or are you doubling your chip stack each time...the goal is to maximize your chip count not win alot of small hands. Could you have gotten any more players to stay in longer before you pushed all-in. Other than that 4 out of 5 is a great read on your oppenents! GL.in your games!

Great percentage for going all in when you're ahead, but you shouldn't never use going all in as a way of bluffing or semi bluffing. You shouldn't limit yourself like that.

If u feel that u have the best hand, maybe can raise without all in just for get more chips

Ah, I didn't expalin myself well.

I mean in situations where there is a race (or showdown), so that one of the parties have gone allin, and tehe cards are laid on the table.

In those cases I have the best hand in 4 out of 5 times, and I am asking if I should maybe be more daring with going allin. There are probably some situations where I have folded the best hand.

In early stages of MTTs I try to get my money in against the donks being ahead.. after the mid- early late stages all ins are almost not worth the risk depending on your stack... no reason to shove deep and lose to a bigger stack.

It's very difficult to answer your question as it is far too general. We have an advantage when we're re-raising allin.. it is called 'fold equity' (something we need to calculate into the equation when wondering if a shove is +EV). Open-shoving, calling a shove & being allin, or re-raising allin over a raise with fold equity, re-raising allin w/o fold equity are all way different situations.
So... without giving the exact scenario of when you're allin vs. another player it's impossible to say whether or not you should be getting it in more often.. 'although'.. if you're not getting it in bad (in MTT's) you're likely not getting it in enough (sounds kinda dumb but actually it isn't... obviously not your goal but perhaps helps you to envision that you might need to get it in more often).
Situations (stack sizes, position, player reads, stack sizes in relation to the blinds, our image, etc. etc.) will all be relative to whether or not we need to be getting it in.

P.S. I don't always shove because I figure I'm going to have the best hand going into the situation.

Question: When aren't we deep in early levels? (I'm confused)

i think it is better to stay away from all inns preflop ... I think monster pairs are only way.....

Cista, you should definitely be happy that in most situations you are getting your chips in ahead. If it were the other way around, you'd have some serious issues to work on in your game.

IMO, if you are still grinding at 2nl then it is not worth trying to get the majority of opponents off hands. In general, most 2nl villains are not really thinking about what you are holding -- they are just playing the cards in front of them.

Have you downloaded PT3/HEM yet? When you have stats on your opponents, or if you are playing limited tables and have a very strong sense of what type of player they are with detailed notes, you can then begin to figure out which are the stronger, thinking players and the nits which you can then leveraging your image and power to make your opponent fold. Generally, to make an opponent fold, you want to have a hand which has no showdown value but which you played in a way that your opponent thinks he is beat. To be able to do this, your opponent needs to be at least considering what cards might be in your hand (level two thinking).

While there are some level two thinkers at 2nl, most unknown villains are simply playing their cards -- and against these types it is usually best to just play your strong hands fast and furious and get called down by inferior holdings.

But do look for these spots and stronger players that know how to fold, and when you find yourself in a heads up situation with one of them and a spot where you think you know what they have and that they probably won't call you if you show strength, try to take down the pot. It doesn't usually require an all-in to do so either -- it's dependent on stack sizes and pot size and board texture and villain and etc.

Also, post some hands here for analysis and you'll likely get some insight.

Yeah, best stay away from anywhere that serves alchohol until at least post flop.

You just should go ALL-in in late phase of a tourney or sng. It's a Push or Fold situation. Believe in ur hand and ship it or fold it. It's a better manner to reduce the times of going all-in.

OP, I assumed you were referring to Tournament play here? Am I wrong? If so, disregard my prior responses.

As PO said, there are a variety of shove scenarios to consider. Not all shoves should mean you have the best hand -- there are certainly spots where you should be restealing by shoving with air or a semi-bluff. Again, as PO mentions, fold equity is a big factor in these moves, and you generally have much more fold equity in a tournament situation than in a cash game. That said, in games at the lowest micro stakes, fold equity is often not considered or respected, so it's generally advised to nit it up and play your premium hands unless you have a read that you're up against a thinking player.

To call an all-in: Depends on pot odds. If its cheap to call compared to the total pot you dont have to be right very often for it to be profitable.
To push all-in: Depends on fold equity and showdown equity. You can push with nothing if it gets your opponent to fold a better hand.

Are we talking tourneys or cash? Shove your big draws when you have a decent amount of fold equity.

Sorry, actually I am playing 2NL as you can see some of the guys knew already.

I'd be happy to hear your advice directed at micros. As it is, I feel I may be doing too many laydowns with good hands.

I am not yet familiar with thinking about fold equity.
But as someone else remarked, noone at 2NL is familiar with that, and few even think of opponent's hand much, and therefore that must be kept in mind also?

i think allins are widely overused. you are always taking risks to begin with and to throw the allin move in there just increases the risks.

Could you post some examples of this?

i have to agree it is a terribly silly risk to take in some spots. again it is very situational based on tons of factors, table image , actions before, position in tourney etc.. i tend to not shove as much as i see other players doing and tend to get paid off more. in the micros especially if you don't shove with an ace on board and say ak in the hole you can often get called for the whole pot at least once. shoving on the same board would get you the smaller pot.but once again it is situational and even one killer bluff if your image is tight enough. i'm big on pot control , trapping and avoiding coin flips.

If you have the best hand when the cards are flipped in an all-in 3 out of 4 or 4 out of 5 times, you are not going all-in enough.

Ah, now there's an opinion straight from the heart. Thank you sir.