When not to go all-in

...well there are probably a great many times when you shouldn't go all-in, but let me tell you about a hand I played yesterday when I pushed all my chips in at the wrong moment and it cost me. I was playing $1-$2 no-limit hold 'em at a pretty loose table - one where the standard pre-flop raise was $15. I was on the button with As 3s when the guy under the gun limped and four guys called ahead of me. I decide to call, the small blind completes and the big blind just checks, so seven players get to see the flop.


The board after the flop: Ad Kc Ac


Okay. So, I have three aces - but am I ahead? Probably. I'm thinking anyone with a strong ace would have raised it preflop, right? The five guys ahead of me all check. I think that maybe there is a stronger ace out there, but nothing higher than A 10 at the most. If I am right, then there is a possibility that another high card on the board will make the kickers irrelevant. What to do? With only $14 in the pot, a bet of $10 felt right to me here, so that's what I did. Acting after so many players checked, it might look like a steal and I might get a call from someone on the club draw, or someone with a king. The Chinese lady in the big blind raised it to $25 and everyone else folds. Now what? I'm about 6o% sure I'm ahead, so I call.


The board after the turn: Ad Kc Ac Kd

Oh, wow. I have aces full of kings. She might have that too. I check and she bets $55. I don't know what to think. To be honest with aces-full I'm too excited to think clearly. I look at how many chips she has left and guess it to be around $250, and I have more than that left. And this is where I make my big mistake - I go all-in. Why did I do this? Why not just call her bet and see if I can get more out of her on the river? Was I afraid of a king coming on the river and losing to quad kings? No. I really thought it was going to be a split pot - that each of us had an ace, so my all-in move here was a big mistake. Of course she folded her king, and while I scooped up a $119 pot I probably could have gotten another $55 out of her on the river.

This hand is a perfect example of what they call "leaving money on the table". I won a big pot, but I should have won more. Rookies make mistakes like this all the time, and maybe I'm still a rookie. It is difficult to learn not to leave money on the table. When you win a hand you feel good, and you don't always realize that you've made a costly mistake. The money you should win but don't negatively effects your bottom-line as much as the money you lose.