Put'em all in thurrrr
Some players hate going all-in during poker tournaments, and avoid this move as much as possible. However, there are many players who frequently use the all-in move to their advantage and employ it whenever possible. It intimidates opponents and can help you to steal many pots over the course of a tourney. Of course there is a downside to going all-in as well since it puts your tournament life on the line every time. That’s why you definitely need to pick your spots when making the decision to go all-in.
One time when going all-in is very beneficial is during the later rounds after you created a very tight image. When players think you’re extremely tight, they’ll be apprehensive to call your all-in bets allowing you to steal many blinds and small pots.
Another time when it can be good to go all-in is when you’re up against somebody who is much more skilled. If you’re down to the wire with a very skilled player, going all-in pre-flop is an excellent time to steal chips from this person since their skill will make it difficult for them to perform such a risky play.
When the bubble comes around you’ll also find the all-in wager to be extremely useful too. As always, many people will be playing tight so they can assure a cash and this is your chance to steal lots of chips by going all-in. Tight players will especially be susceptible to all-in bets at this stage of the tournament.
One place where you want to avoid all-in bets is pre-flop during early rounds. The reasoning behind this is that you stand to gain very little since nobody will be likely to call this early on without good cards. If they do call you, they’re likely to have an excellent hand and probably have you beat.
A guy I used to play with let us know every game “you come over top on me, I’ll go all in – every time” and danged if he didn’t intimidate near everyone into not re-raising.