With time and a whole lot of experience I have learned some things that were glaringly obvious. It kinda makes you wonder why you don’t think this way when you first start playing poker but you cannot teach experience. Going All-In is the most powerful move in No Limit Hold’em. However, the timing of this move makes it even more powerful after the flop.

If you watch and / or speak with a skilled poker player they will likely tell you how they prefer to be all-in after the flop and not before. Why is that? Well it’s pretty simple. You do not want to give your opponent five cards to hit his hand. Poker strategy dictates that we make the highest percentage play as often as possible. When you allow your opponent to see five cards instead of three before making your move it gives them better percentages of hitting their hand on the turn or river. However, if they miss on the flop their percentages drop down to 13% if they have a smaller pocket pair than you.

This also allows you to maximize your profit in the hand. There are other variables that go along with this such as: flop texture, chip stack, ranking in tournament, etc. These variables will also help determine what the best play is for your particular scenario. The fact of the matter is that the All-In move should be your last resort and not your first so use it wisely when the opportunity presents itself. Obviously you must make allowances for online play due to the hyper-aggressive nature of the game. Again, pick your spots.