Do you go all-in in online poker? We’re not just talking about the psychological concept of playing your best game each and every time that you sit down at the tables. We’re also talking about knowing when to go all in and risk your investment stake and when to walk away. Some players struggle with this for the entire length of their poker careers, and other players think that it doesn’t matter.

If you aren’t considering when and where to go all-in, then you’re definitely doing yourself a disservice. You always want to make sure that you’re thinking about how to go all in and when are the best times to do it. If you just go all in whenever you feel like it, it will create the pattern and appearance of a weak player in no time. This will cause other players to bully you more than they would bully other people, and you don’t want this either!

So, how do you manage to figure out when to go all in and when not to? Good question!

First and foremost, you will need to step back and realize there’s a lot of power in going all in for No Limit Hold’ Em. It makes people feel on edge because you could be bluffing, but you also could have a great hand. Weaker players will try to jump in with you, only to find that they’ve been outplayed. Stronger players will either fold when they know they don’t stand a chance, or call your bluff — especially if you’ve gone all in and lost previous hands with them.

You can strike fear in the board by going all in, but that doesn’t mean that you should go in all the time. It goes without saying that going all in is definitely risky, but risk is definitely a good time. You can’t win big if you don’t play big, you know!

The best way to go all in is when you know that you have control of the board. Do you want to be the player that goes in before the flop even comes down? Definitely not. You don’t want to try to guess that you will have a hand that beats all other hands. Even if you’re holding rockets in your hand, you don’t want to go all in before the flop is called. You could end up having nothing else connect with those rockets and lose your entire stake in the blink of an eye.

An example might help you understand the power of going all in, as well as when to do so.

If you’re in a game where you have a group of players and you’re holding 87s (diamonds), and you’re on the button, you will definitely want to look at what the flop actually is. 87s is something that you don’t want to just fold without looking into it. However, you don’t want to go all in before you see the flop — 87s isn’t strong enough on its own to do that. You could end up having the flop turn against you in a heartbeat, and you would immediately lose your entire stake.

However, if you find that the flop comes down 8-7-9, you might want to push forward. There are two possibilities that come from this flop. One is the possibility of a three of a kind from the full board, and other is the possibility of a straight (or even a flush, if everything is suited on the board).

If you feel confident on this board, you should definitely go all in. For starters, while it’s risky other players will immediately come to the conclusion that you did. They will not want to move against you, and some might fold. A weaker player with a weaker hand might push you, just to see if they can get your chips anyway. This is where you can sit back and watch the action unfold.

Does this mean that sometimes you will lose? Definitely. Poker is indeed still a game of chance, and you will need to keep that in mind with each and every play.

Overall, these tips will serve you well when you’re trying to figure out how to go all in, as well as why this is one of the most powerful aspects of No Limit Poker.