The all-in bluff

When I see somebody move all in with nothing I want to walk over to them, sit down next to them, and smack them in the back of the head. What could possibly be going through someone’s mind when they decide that the best possible play for them to make is to move all in with nothing and hope their opponent folds?

There are two (at least two, anyway) reasons that this is a bad play - and bad is an understatement, it’s hideous.

First of all, if you move all in you’re probably making a fairly large bet. Obviously there are times when you started the hand with very few chips and your all in is almost certainly going to be called, but generally an all in is a big bet. So who calls big bets? People with big hands. If you don’t have anything and you move all in the only person that’s going to call is the person with a huge hand. This is bad.

Secondly, you could probably bet half your stack (still stupid) with nothing and see how your opponent reacts. It will probably draw the same reaction as your all in - either they call and you lose or they fold and you only risked half your chips. They might raise you, at which point you say “Oops,” and fold your hand. You’re still in the tournament, and while you took a big hit, at least you’re in it - you can’t win tournaments if you get knocked out.

Steve posted an article about the all in equalizer a few days ago, and while I agree that the ability to put all your chips in the middle can help put better players on their heels and make them play defensively, moving all in with nothing is a good way to throw chips away. Moving all in with the advantage is all you can do, after that it’s all up to the cards (though preflop all ins are not necessarily good plays).

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