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Calling All Ins With Small Pairs - The Folly!
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Author: Marc Weinberg
 May 13 - A lot of poker tournaments end for players when they call an all-in hand with small pocket pairs. Note that I did not say when they raise with those hands, which is a totally different matter. These players feel that they are 50/50 in races, but of course that is way off. When you call with a small pair you could be facing a wide range of hands. Let's look at them to help explain why this is bad play in most spots.
By small pair I am referring to any pair 88 or lower. Pocket 9s and 10s are in that purgatory category of medium, and JJ or higher is a big pair.
A player raises all-in in a poker tournament. It could be at any point in the tournament except the final table, where strategy is very different. He raises all-in and holds:
A big pair. Contrary to the new breed of poker player who is always looking to trap with / slow play monsters there are still a lot of players out there who will push with a big pair. Your small pair is toast here.
Ax where x is 9 or higher but not an A. You do see some very weak players make plays with an Ace and little (else), but generally players who are unsure how to play a hand after the flop will overbet AJ, AQ, AK and are reluctant to lay it down. A common race is AK against a small pair, where yes the small pair is a slight favorite, but this is the only situation where you are genuinely 50/50 to win your race.
A pair bigger than yours. Another disaster for your 44 or 66 is when it bumps up against 88 or 99. Raising all-in with a pocket pair is admirable and smart. Calling, not so much.
Any two cards. Here is the part that really sucks. You identify a chancer, a loose player, a fool even who raises with anything and is trying to push the table enough. Fair enough, but when you call with 88 and he turns over 9J and blushes he is still has a great chance of beating you!
When the tournament is nearing the end and moves are often mandated by position + the size of the blinds and antes then there are times when you can call with small pairs because there's a good chance you're facing trash, but even then it is very risky. But at other stages of the tournament it makes no sense.
Rasing first brings you fold equity, which increases your chances of winning. Now you have the actual mathematical percentage if there is a race, but you also have to account for the times when you win simply by betting all other players out of the pot. If you are calling rather than raising your only hope is the maths.
Bad players assume that an all-in raise can ONLY mean the player has AK or AQ, and so if they hold 55 they will call figuring they have a big chance of winning. That is simply not true, because they're often wrong about what their opponent has, and even if they're right it's a coin flip situation.
It happens all the time in tournaments of every size and location, and it is really a hallmark of mediocre thought regarding the game of poker.
Superior players look to win huge pots post-flop with small pairs, and when that is not possible because all the chips have to be committed preflop they usually get away from these hands.
There is also a big difference between rasing with a hand like AK and calling with it, but the latter is far more forgivable than the small pair call. If you can't see why then you need to do more work on the mathematics of poker!
Related Poker Articles And News Items:
> Poker Tournament Strategy From French Fiction
> Online Poker Tournament Strategy - The Absent Opponent
> Evaluating Starting Hands In Tournament Poker
> Poker Tournament Bankrolls
> The Three Stage Theory Of Online Tournament Play - Part 3
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