Chiefer
Legend
Silver Level
for my 300th post, i though i would make it count as best i could and this article came to mind. i read this article in cardplayer magazine by Barry Tanenbaum and i thought some of the new players would find this helpful.
Failure to use the stop-and-go: The stop-and-go is a play designed to give you a small extra chance to win the pot without a showdown. To execute the play, you are out of position and call a raise before the flop with a hand with which you plan to go all in, but are certain that your opponent will call. You then push the rest of your chips in after the flop, thus giving your opponent a chance to dislike the flop and fold. If he folds, you win with no further risk. If he calls, you are no worse off than if you pushed all in before the flop. You have to hope that your hand wins.
Here is a typical scenario: In the middle of a tournament, the blinds are $400-$800 with a $100 ante. You have $5,000 left after you post the big blind. A middle-position player with $12,000 makes it $2,500 to go. Everyone folds to you, and you decide to go all in with whatever hand you hold. Note that it does not matter what cards you hold - just that you have decided to push all of your chips in.
Clearly, if you push all in here, you will get called. The pot will be $1,000 in antes, $1,200 in blinds, and the $2,500 from the raiser. Your all-in push will make it $9,700 and your opponent will have to call $3,300. At almost 3-1, there is no hand he can fold, even if he was just goofing around with his raise.
Your best play is to call the $1,700 raise, look at the flop, and then put in your $3,300. Your plan is to make this play regardless of whether you like the flop or not. You hope that your opponent does not realize that you are making this play, hates the flop, and folds his hand. If he calls, you are no worse off than if you had pushed all in earlier. You will get the same five cards on the board and will see who wins.
You can make two errors with this play. The first is pushing all in without actually looking at the board. Yes, I know that is the plan, but it helps if you pretend to look and make a decision. You do not want your opponent to realize that your all-in push was independent of both your hand and the flop, as his only real defense against the stop-and-go play is to call your push regardless of the flop, and this is sometimes tough to do.
The second error is to frighten yourself into checking and folding when you see the flop. Remember, you have no idea of whether your opponent liked the flop or not, so just because it does not suit you does not mean he will call. Think of this play as an alternative to going all in right away, not a play in which you plan to make a decision after the flop.
Let's suppose that you have 3-3 and your opponent has 8-8. If you go all in before the flop, you will be called for sure. If you call before the flop and A-K-9 happens to hit the board, there is a decent chance that your opponent will now fold. This effect is even more pronounced if your opponent has J-10 and you are planning to go all in with A-5. Again, if you make your move before the flop, he will call and your hand will have to hold up. If the flop is K-7-7, for example, and your opponent decides to fold to your post-flop push, you no longer have to worry about him hitting his hand on the next two cards and eliminating you.
Failure to use the stop-and-go: The stop-and-go is a play designed to give you a small extra chance to win the pot without a showdown. To execute the play, you are out of position and call a raise before the flop with a hand with which you plan to go all in, but are certain that your opponent will call. You then push the rest of your chips in after the flop, thus giving your opponent a chance to dislike the flop and fold. If he folds, you win with no further risk. If he calls, you are no worse off than if you pushed all in before the flop. You have to hope that your hand wins.
Here is a typical scenario: In the middle of a tournament, the blinds are $400-$800 with a $100 ante. You have $5,000 left after you post the big blind. A middle-position player with $12,000 makes it $2,500 to go. Everyone folds to you, and you decide to go all in with whatever hand you hold. Note that it does not matter what cards you hold - just that you have decided to push all of your chips in.
Clearly, if you push all in here, you will get called. The pot will be $1,000 in antes, $1,200 in blinds, and the $2,500 from the raiser. Your all-in push will make it $9,700 and your opponent will have to call $3,300. At almost 3-1, there is no hand he can fold, even if he was just goofing around with his raise.
Your best play is to call the $1,700 raise, look at the flop, and then put in your $3,300. Your plan is to make this play regardless of whether you like the flop or not. You hope that your opponent does not realize that you are making this play, hates the flop, and folds his hand. If he calls, you are no worse off than if you had pushed all in earlier. You will get the same five cards on the board and will see who wins.
You can make two errors with this play. The first is pushing all in without actually looking at the board. Yes, I know that is the plan, but it helps if you pretend to look and make a decision. You do not want your opponent to realize that your all-in push was independent of both your hand and the flop, as his only real defense against the stop-and-go play is to call your push regardless of the flop, and this is sometimes tough to do.
The second error is to frighten yourself into checking and folding when you see the flop. Remember, you have no idea of whether your opponent liked the flop or not, so just because it does not suit you does not mean he will call. Think of this play as an alternative to going all in right away, not a play in which you plan to make a decision after the flop.
Let's suppose that you have 3-3 and your opponent has 8-8. If you go all in before the flop, you will be called for sure. If you call before the flop and A-K-9 happens to hit the board, there is a decent chance that your opponent will now fold. This effect is even more pronounced if your opponent has J-10 and you are planning to go all in with A-5. Again, if you make your move before the flop, he will call and your hand will have to hold up. If the flop is K-7-7, for example, and your opponent decides to fold to your post-flop push, you no longer have to worry about him hitting his hand on the next two cards and eliminating you.
