I considered the small blind having lost about 9 buy-ins bets around half the pot, therefore I immediately opted to call. Same thing with my friend, he opted to call while everyone else at the table folded.

Turn came and brought a Jd. Then, small blind went all-in with the shortest stack. Afterwards, we all agreed to play pre-flop though I considered some stuff for a while.

Later on, I had 2 pair, KK88 and J kicker with a possibility to have a flush draw eventually. Thinking of this, I longed for him to fold if I would call the all in of the small blind.

I did call at the later part. Then, the last guy opted to call. Well, at that instance, I thought I’m in big trouble and the river has nothing good to offer. But still with hope, I opted to bet the remainder of my stack. As I’ve expected, he opted to call my all-in and flips, only to unveil 7h8s. Surprisingly, small blind turned out to be Kh10h.

Well, he won the biggest pot and of course I was distressed and degraded afterwards. Now as I look back to what happened, I’m in doubt. I don’t know if I played properly and strategically. Any comment or corrections as to how I played that night?

Thank you. Any comment or correction will be much appreciated!

Dylan

Dylan,

You got to see the flop for free, so that is a plus. While you did flop two pair, you kicker was never really that good. I honestly would have a very hard time calling bets on the flop with no kicker. When the short stack moved all in, you couldn’t have figured to be ahead of him due to a weak kicker.

Yes you had a flush draw, on the turn, but when the river came a blank you pushed hoping to make him fold. I see your logic, but the downside to this is that if he called you, you were beat, and you were.

Personally, I would have folded on the flop.

In your opinion, do you think it is wise to go all-in or call all-in with all my stack? Or just fold and patiently wait for a better hand to come instead?

Well, I hate calling all-in preflop and certainly I prefer to wait for the flop, then afterwards make a decision based on the result. Any advice please?

Thank you.

All the best,
Toffee

Toffee,

If I am facing an all-in bet preflop, I am calling with K-K. There is only one hand that is ahead preflop, and if your opponent has A-A, then bless them. There are very few times that I would ever consider folding K-K preflop to a raise or an all-in bet.

Moving all-in depends on several factors including how big the other player’s stack is, what the chances are that they will fold, and what I have seen them show down. Chances are I am going to push the hand pretty hard preflop.

In regards to calling all-in preflop, I understand your concern but when you have a big hand preflop, you need to push your advantages and try to take advantage of big hands when you get them. Yes, you will be outdrawn and lose on occasion, but the same is true if you held aces.

For an instance, there are four players involved in a certain event, naming player 1, player 2, player 3, and player 4. Player 1 goes all in with $50, player 2 matches the all in, player 3 also matches the all in, and player 4 folds. Say player 3 wants to raise a side pot with player 2, do you think player 2 have to match the side pot or just fold? Any idea?

Please help me.

Sean

Sean,

In the scenario above, if player 3 bets or raises, then player 2 must call the bet or fold. If player 2 folds, they forfeit their rights to the main pot.

Before I lay down my question, let me first congratulate you for having the best site. It has been a great help for many poker players. Thanks a lot for all of your efforts, great job!

Well, for my question, it’s something about going all in when making a bet and side pots. Let’s say for an instance, there are 3 players at the fifth street. Have already gone through the pre-flop, the flop, as well as all the betting. Then, fifth street comes up and eventually player 1 goes “all in” and bets $100. Assume that player 2 calls, same thing for player 3, but the difference is he wants to raise $50.

In my opinion, player 2 may call the raise of player 3 by placing either a side bet or side wager of $50 in a side pot. Typically, player 2 would have to raise or call the bet of player 3. However, I’m wondering if the rules are not the same whenever a player goes all in. Any idea?

Also, I am clueless if player 2 can simply decline to do the side bet to grab the chance of playing for an additional side pot of $100 and just play for the $300 in the main pot. Well, if player 2 can, I guess there would be no side pot.

By the way, is the side pot mandatory at all times? And is player 2 obliged to either just call the raise of player 3 by which is $50 or else just fold?

If the answer for such questions is yes, then I don’t think things will make sense. At least, why shouldn’t player 2 be able to play for the main pot? If player 2 doesn’t have an additional raise, then why should he fold?

Also, player 1 can’t meet the raise of player 3, however, he gets to stay in and play for the main pot. How come? And why should player 2 fold though he placed the same amount of money in the main pot?

Thanks!
Carl Lohanne

Carl,

In the scenario above, player one went all in on the river. Player 2 then called. If player three bets out, then player two must either call the bet or fold. Player 2 at that point forfeits his right to the main pot.

Think of it this way. After player one goes all in, Player 2 and Player 3 must then battle for the right to win the main pot. With his raise, player 3 is saying that he can bet not only player 1 but player 2 as well. If player 2 wants the right to claim the main pot, he must beat player 3 for it.

The reason that player 1 is not forced to fold is because all of his money is already in the pot and once that happens, his portion of the pot is protected.

Back in the early days of poker, if someone was out of money and the other person had more, they could just win the pot by just raising. This was determined as unfair. Someone could sit down with a larger stack than everyone else and just move all in to every bet and take every pot. This would not be fair.

I have a question about the big blind and raising. Say in a no limit holdem tourney, it is possible for the big blind to raise whenever everyone else only calls the big blind? For an instance, can the big blind go “all in” whenever the bet actually comes back to him and considering no one else raising the big blind? Any idea?

Thank you in advance.

Luke Martin

Luke,

In Holdem, the big blind has an option to act last before the flop if nobody raises the pot. This is due to the fact that their bet was a forced bet. They can either check or raise. If they choose to raise, they do not get a second option to raise unless someone else reraises.

I have two questions for you. Hope you can find some time to answer them.

1. When is the right time to make side pots? Is it actually at the end of the betting round before going for the flop or when there is finally someone all-in?
2. Let’s say player 1 goes all in with $50, then player 2 calls $50, player 3 calls $50 and raises $50, and player 4 folds. Then, player 2 has to play. How much do you think he should call or raise and why? Do you think he should call 200$ or $100 or only $50?

Similarly, with almost the same example, player 1 goes all in with $50, player 2 calls $50, player 3 calls $50 and raises $50, and then player 4 folds. Take note, we will have 2 main pots, $150 & side pot of $50. Now, player 2 has to play. What do you think, how much does he needs to call or raise and why? Do you think he should call 200$, $150, $100 or only $50?

Thanks in advance.

Vinz

Vinz,

1. The only time that there is a side pot is when a player is all-in and there are two or more players in the pot that can continue betting. The side pot can occur anytime after the player goes all-in.
2. The player can either call the $50 raise or reraise. Player 3 raised to $100 total and player 2 already has $50 in the pot. He can call the raise or reraise. Beyond that, without knowing what the player has, it is not possible to determine what amount he should raise or if he should flat call.
3. The revised scenario is exactly the same as the prior one. Your first example was going to create a side pot of $50 as well. Nothing about the scenario has changed, so my answer above applies here as well.

I am in trouble. A dispute is going on between me and my friend about side pots in our No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments. I hope you could help us out.

We already tried to seek out for some possible answer, researched, etc. but till this time we haven’t achieved yet the clarity we are looking for.

For you to understand the situation better, consider these infos:

Player 1 (has 1000 chips) – calls the 100 in the big blind
Player 2 (has 500 chips) – calls the 100.
Player 3 (has 300 chips) – goes all-in for 300 chips
Player 4 folds.
Player 1 calls the additional 200 chips from Player 3 all-in bet.
Player 2 also calls the additional 200 chips.

Eventually, the flop comes with three way action: player 1, player 2, and player 3. Every player has 300 chips invested for the hand. Then, right after the flop, player 1 is the first to act, so as a result, he moves all-in with 700 chips.

Consider that player 3 has a chance to win 900 chips if his hand is the best hand and that there would be a side pot in which the best hand between player 1 and player 2 would win. Take note that player 1 would take back the additional 500 chips he placed in the pot.

Well, my question now is – what happens if player 2 folds to the all-in bet of player 1? And if in the event that player 2 folds after Player 1 moves all-in with more chips, can player 2 win the original pot against other players?

I have an idea but I’m not certain if it makes sense. Any help with this will be much appreciated.

Thank you.
Carl Jhanne

Carl,

The side pot is just a continuation of the original hand. When player two folds to the bet of player one, he forfeits his rights to the main pot. Only player one and player three can compete for it.