Going all-in with an A preflop in NL HE

[tvdad]

This pertains to the new Paradise multi-table tournaments, with buy-ins ranging from $5 to $30. A total of 37 tournaments played so far with this strategy. For what it's worth, I have finished in the money 14 times. Best finishes were fifth and sixth.

I thought I'd try the strategy of pushing all-in preflop with an A when I'm the first to act. Actually, I've only been doing it with AT or better, and only after the blinds have gone up a few levels. The results have been pretty bad. I could post all the statistical details if anyone wants to see them, but the bottom line is as follows:

I pick up the blinds - 37%
I get called and I win - 25%
I get called and I lose- 38%
I get called and tie - <1% (happened twice)

First of all, I can't believe I'm getting called 63% of the time. And it's almost always by a pocket pair or an A with a better kicker.

Second, a lot of the wins occur when I'm called by a SB or BB who didn't have many chips left and basically had to call (usually in the late stages of the tourney.) So while they are technically wins, the amounts are so small that they really could go under the "picking up the blinds" category.

Third, losing more often than winning when I'm called is unacceptable, so I doubt I will continue with this strategy much longer.

So, is this a bad idea or am I in the midst of a nasty slump? Anyone out there having success going all-in with Aces?

T

[CrisBrown]

Hi tvdad,

I don't think this is an unlucky string. It's exactly what I'd expect, actually. When you move all-in on weak hands, you'll only be called by players who are: (a) desperate; or, (b) have you beat. So more often than not, you're going to win a small pot, or lose a big one. And that's what you're seeing.

Cris

[Bozeman]

"First of all, I can't believe I'm getting called 63% of the time. And it's almost always by a pocket pair or an A with a better kicker."

Then you are doing this too often.


"Third, losing more often than winning when I'm called is unacceptable"

With this type of hand, this will almost always be the case, so it is good play only when you will pick up the blinds quite often, or be called by desperate stacks.

[ZeeJustin]

[ QUOTE ]
Third, losing more often than winning when I'm called is unacceptable,

[/ QUOTE ]

This statement is not true at all. You could still have a very positive EV while winning less than 50% of the time you are called.
One thing you failed to mention was whether or not you factored in your stack size relative to the blinds. If the blinds are 100/200, shoving for 10,000 chips utg is just plain horrendous, but if you have 300 chips, it's a no brainer.

[SossMan]

I think this is actually a fantastic strategy. I'm sure that it's just a string of bad luck, and if you hang in there, the odds will even themselves out.

uhh...By the way, what's your Paradise username again, and what times do you normally play? /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[tvdad]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I was a bit surprised by the number of times I got called. I was looking at it from the other perspective: What cards would I need to call with if I knew the other guy had pushed all-in with AT or better? Would I call with a pocket pair QQ or worse? Not if all my chips were at risk. If I had the bigger stack, maybe. It just doesn't seem right to call in this situation when losing means you're out of the tournament, especially if you're not yet in the money. So I would probably only call with AA, KK, or AK.

But apparently a lot of other people will call with less. I get called by small pairs, any A, even KQ, QJ, JT and KJ. This is why I said I was surprised by the high call rate. There's no way I'd call an all-in with any of the above hands when all my chips were at stake. Am I wrong?

So when I'm told that I'm only going to get called by people with better hands, that's simply not true. At least not in these tournaments. That's why I thought the strategy might work, because I knew I'd be up against a lot of inferior and "coin flip" hands, while the better hands like AA, KK, AK would be rare.

T

[SossMan]

If you want to use a "system", why not make it a little more sophisticated, like David's all in system. It takes into consideration many more factors (blinds, stack sizes, etc...)
I am not advocating this system, but it is certainly better than moving in on any ace-10 or better. The thing you must realize is the fact that it only takes one coin flip hand to take you out of the tournament.

[tvdad]

[ QUOTE ]
The thing you must realize is the fact that it only takes one coin flip hand to take you out of the tournament.

[/ QUOTE ]

Right. I was counting on people not being so gung-ho about calling with a coin flip hand of their own, but it happens so often in these tourneys that I now realize this particular strategy is doomed.

It was an experiment. It failed. I'll move on. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

T