all in on preflop

Nitram_80

Nitram_80

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Do you guys think its a good idea going all in preflop with either Aces, Ks ,or Qs if you think you have your opponent beat. I do it from time to time if they reraise me or go all in but I seem to have bad luck with it because I loose more then I win here. Even when I have my opponent beat like last night it was 3 ppl only so I thought my Qs were good agains his $60 all in reraise. He had Js and the board gave him a stupid set. I understand that probably the only wise time to do it its with rockets but even these sometimes loose to a flush ,str8 or even trips. What do you guys think about this subject?
 
Tammy

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Nitram 80 said:
I do it from time to time if they reraise me or go all in
In the situation you describe, I think it's OK, but it shouldn't be your first course of action; this would lead with no other options to try and a) work your opponent for a maximum amount of his chips, or b) get out of the hand if the board turns sour for you.

By immediately going all-in with monster hands you usually will not be getting the maximum value for your hand.
 
F Paulsson

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If you can get all your money (and someone to call you) with the best hand*, then I think that's a splendid idea. The fact that you won't always win is not a counter argument to this; you only need to win more than half the time**.

If I could just get callers, I'd go all-in with aces, kings and queens every chance I get. But since people tend to fold if I just push whenever I have them, I tend to instead raise them smaller amounts to encourage action.

* The "best" hand doesn't necessarily have to be whatever hand that currently ranks as the highest poker hand of the cards available, even if that is usually the case. More generally, instead, the best hand is the hand that will win the largest percentage of the time.

** Always less than half, actually, since the blinds make up for some dead money in the pot. But if you have a hand that is more than a 50% chance to win, you should never doubt to call an all-in bet, barring weird satellite situations.
 
ChuckTs

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It sounds like you're being results oriented, which you shouldn't be. It's always best to get your chips in the middle when you're ahead, and PF with AA or KK and occasionally QQ or JJ, you're generally ahead.
The problem with many players these days is that they think that AA and KK are invincible.
Think about it: What kinds of hands do you generally see when the hand reaches the showdown?
straights, flushes, 2 pair, trips, full houses...AA is only one pair. It's dominates any hand preflop, but people overvalue it and that's why so many get such bad beats.
Bill_Hollorian made a great thread about not giving implied odds with big pocket pairs. It applies to post-flop action but is one you should read nonetheless: https://www.cardschat.com/showthread.php?t=66803&highlight=implied+odds
So basically what i'm saying is always get your money in before the flop with AA and most of the time with KK if possible.
QQ and JJ are great hands too, but generally you don't want to risk your whole stack with them. Raise them like you would any top 10 hand, and see what the flop brings. If an overcard drops and you're opponent starts jamming the flop, then just let 'em go. Also if your opponent is a super tight player, you wouldn't want your money riding on a JJ.
 
Nitram_80

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Thanks Chuck. I guess that means most of the time its not the best idea to go all in with high pockets pairs. This is one of the things that has cost me the most money I think. I have even went all in with 10s and the fish had Ak and landed an ace. I think I will only call all in from now on with Aces and thats if they challenge me and dont have a hugh stack. I have actually started hating rockets cuz I lost alot with them lately , althoug some of thsi is cuz I slow played them either preflop or post flop. I have learned recently that I will not slow play when i have top pair , on the flop I mean. If I feel like I have the best hand there , I will bet the size of the pot and keep my opponents from drawing or even catching a higher pair.Theres too many ppl (fish) who dont know about odds and will call 2/3 of the flop and then catch a lucky card. I have suffered enough!:mad:
 
F Paulsson

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Nononono NO! This is not what Chuck said! That your tens were up against AK was unfortunate, but you were still a favorite to win and you should still be happy to push all your money in if you knew what he had.

Don't slowplay pocket pairs preflop. Play them fast, suck up the losses, and notice that you're winning more than you're losing - because you are.
 
KerouacsDog

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The truth of the matter is that however you play high pocket pairs(JJ, QQ, KK) ie raising the big blind 5 times, you're always gonna get some muppet sat there with Ax thinking, 'well, I've got an Ace, I'm gonna call that' and usually hitting an Ace on the board. Whenever you play high pocket pairs strongly, always be cautious of any overcards on the board, and any betting linked to that overcard.
 
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Honest, no i dont think all in preflop is good. it all depends on the situation.
What type of players is it left on ur table, what hands might they call u with and etc. To risk all ur money on a cashgame with no flop is very risky. I belive in raising with top pocket, but be very carefull if more then 1 opponent that is calling.

Lets say:
2 ppl go all in and it they got $60 each and u got $60 wich means 2 for ur money but even if it sound that good. I would be sceptic in this case to call with say JJ / QQ . If the players there are thight i would fould. big chance they got an A or K and if their is 2 they might got a smaller pocket. is that good? it might be but the chance that he hit the set or the K I talked about is preatty big. its around a 80/20 preflop for u(depends on the others card of course) but 1 card can change it all to opposite. think of that. But sure, if its you and another person i would go all in pre-flop with AA/KK/QQ, JJ is overated but maybe that to, depends on the pot.
Depends on your playstyle and so on.
Dont only play the cards, play the players.

comments?
 
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AlurOne

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i agree that you must take into account the type of players at the table, and maybe more importantly, your position in relation to these players.
if you have some very loose/aggressive players to your left, you may want to be a little more cautious - these players will call with almost anything. although you may have them beat preflop, chances are good that one of them will outdraw you - especially if there is more than one who calls your all-in.

take into account the types of players, your position, and you want to try and use a big raise or all-in as a measure toward isolating a player rather than having a few players call you. like they say in real estate - location, location, location!
 
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Don't think there's any think wrong with going all in with Premium Pairs, especially since there's not a lot of hands that can beat you. If you go all in with AA, KK, or QQ, and still manage to lose, it's just bad luck and will result in positive EV later on.
 
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