All In - The Ultimate Equalizer

When playing No Limit Texas Hold'em you have a tool called the All In that can be used very effectively to take power away from the other players and give it to yourself. In No Limit you may, at any point in any hand, declare that you are All In and push all your chips to the center of the table; if you have enough chips to push in, it is going to cause your opponents to tread very carefully around your action.

The problem with All Ins is the same as the strength; it's power depends on how many chips you have. If your chip stack is too small and you chose to use it at the wrong time, a larger stacked player may call you on a gamble, and sometimes those gambles pay off. However if you are the one ahead in chips, your All In move will give the other player pause, making them wonder? Do I dare risk it now? Should I wait for a better hand?

When facing a player with more chips you have many fewer options available to you. If you call the big blind and they are to your left, they may push you all in; if you were speculating or had an average hand, you will be forced to fold and lose those chips you called with, putting you in an even worse position. As a result when you are short stacked and big stacks act after you, your starting hand requirements have to be at their tightest. Each time you are deciding to call a big blind, as if it is worth risking your entire stack because, rest assured, someone will eventually try and put you all in. The best defense against getting in this weak position is to build your stack early and play smart, keeping your loses to a minimum. Then, before you know it, you are the big stack and ready to use your All In power to its fullest.