So far in this series we have looked mainly at all-in situations in standard tournaments and Sit & Go’s. However, in deeper-stacked situations such as at the beginning of a higher buy-in tournament, or in a cash game where players typically have 100 big blinds (100BB) or more, play gets more complicated. One of the most interesting developments within the last few years has been the four-bet bluff. For example, if a 3BB raise is three-bet to 10BB, a player with 100BB now has room to four-bet to 22-25BB without committing himself. This tactic worked a treat when it first come onto the scene with four-bettors more often than not stealing the pot, however players have now wised up and started to five-bet all-in, leaving the original four bettor in a very tight spot.
Hold’ em games used to be fairly tight-passive affairs with the cards generally dictating who would win games, this was until aggressive young players started raising lots of hands, which led to the counter-strategy of three-betting light, which in turn led to players four-betting light (which has become standard practice in the last one or two years) with a wider range of hands like 8-8 or A-Q. Now as the game evolves further and players become wise to the four-bet, the light five-bet shove has become another popular counter strategy.
Deeper stacks, greater confusion
As is plain to see, the deeper the stacks get the more levels of complexity are introduced to all-in poker. Of course, if you are playing against a rock and they move all-in, the chances that your 9-9 is good are very slim. Against more sophisticated players it becomes more of a mind game. The pre-flop terrain shifts radically once players understand the basic rules of either making raises that do not commit them to a pot and put their opponent to a decision, or moving all-in to clearly commit and maximise fold equity.
If you’re still fairly new to poker I’d recommend starting with the shortest stack formats like Sit & Go’s where decisions are simple and then move on from there through tournaments to cash games as your ability increases. Doing this should develop your game and give you the knowledge and experience you need to make that all-in decision; master that and chances are you’re on your way to becoming a very successful no-limit hold’ em player.