Going All-In Playing Texas Holdem

Texas Holdem players often think that they are indestructible when they hold two over cards. Late in a No-Limit Texas Holdem tournament at an online poker site is a bad time to be thinking that you are indestructible. Perhaps you have been getting some good cards for a while, and your No-Limit Texas Holdem game is looking pretty good.

You are on a roll and nothing can stop you. You go all-in with you K-Q suited and within a few seconds you are looking for a new online poker tournament to enter. What happened? All-in happened.

To be successful at No-Limit Texas Holdem at online poker sites you will have to go all-in more than once. But before you push your chips all-in, make sure you are getting the right price at the right time. After all, you may only have one shot at it.

The difference between going all-in and calling all-in is huge. Consider the following scenario in a No-Limit Texas Holdem tournament at an online poker site. It’s three handed, with the chips distributed 40%-40%-20%. You have one of the stacks of 40%. You look down to see K-Q suited on the button and limp in.

Your opponent is looking at A-7 and decides he wants to see if he can steal the blinds. He raises you all-in. Liking your hand you call. Now, the K-Q is a solid hand, but it should be raised, or it should be folded in this situation – but never called, and certainly never called all-in. Without help from the flop, you are in pretty bad shape against a number of hands, even if it was a middle pair. By moving all-in rather than calling all-in, regardless of the situation, you put the other players on the defensive and make them respond to you.

You also choose when you get the best of it. You can choose your position, your hands, and be in better control. If you do get called, you should be holding the better hand.

With the increased popularity of No-Limit Holdem at online poker sites it is quite common to see players go all-in far more than they should. No-Limit Texas Holdem at online poker sites is a game of choices, and it is always best when you make the choice instead of responding to someone else. In other words, if you are going to go all-in, try not to do it by calling.

In No-Limit Texas Holdem, half of the fun is pushing all your chips in and waiting for a call, all the while knowing you hold the best hand.