Whether you play free online poker or for big stakes going All-In is just about the most heavy duty poker move of all.

Generally you should only consider moving all in if you have a hand that stands a good chance against powerful hands such as A-K and A-Q which are the most common hands played all-in.

This is because these are the hands also most willing to call. Which hands, then, are we willing to put our tournament life on? Pocket pairs spring to mind. So does A-K (or A-Q or even K-Q suited or K-J suited if you are running out of chips)

But someone does it differently. I'd like to add that here; player B is an impatient, rowdy player who is familiar to us TV poker fans.

BLINDS 12k/24k

A has Ad-Kd raises 75k

A's raise is simply standard for A-K suited, although it is slightly stronger (the average preflop raise is about 2.5x the big blind, but this raise is a little more than thrice). But look at B's move, which may be less standard:

B has 10c-5c moves all-in 544k

What about that: a 10-5? With about 22 big blinds left, which is relatively a short-stack (but not so short), B moves all-in. But with a 10-5? B can wait for slightly better hands than this.

Now let us try to justify the 10-5 in this situation. If B did it with a small pair, he is a slight favourite (about 55-45). If with A-x (with x smaller than a King), he is a significant underdog (about 75-25).

With any two cards except Ace or King, he is a less significant underdog (about 66-34).

So the win-rate of 10-5 against A-K (here B deciding that A's hand was A-K or similar was quite a gamble; if he's up against A-A he is a big underdog, about 85-15) is just the average of the win rate of a pocket pair against A-K and the win rate of A-x against A-K, and therefore not so bad.

Moreover, with 10c-5c B has two live cards, in contrast to A-x, where x is the only live card. Moreover, B may dislike having 22 big blinds dwindle to, say, 15 or 14 later, so he decides to put his heart and soul into this hand. Who is this player, anyway? "I've got a 10-5, boys and girls." Yes it's true, the garrulous Mike Matusow! "The Mouth!"

A calls 469k (Pot 1.124m)

Now let us observe how "The Mouth" will fare against all odds.

FLOP: Js-7c-5s

"That's a Flop!" A Five fell, pairing Matusow!

TURN: Js-7c-5s-8d

RIVER: Js-7c-5s-8d-6d

Moving all-in can end up being the most dangerous moments in poker. Even in free online poker it can also be the most thrilling, anyway. The all-in recharged Matusow's stack to 45 big blinds.

This isn't the sort of eccentric play that can be exploited forever though. When Matusow believed that A has A-K or similar, he is gambling.

While most players will work a strategy where they will call with pocket pairs I doubt in this case that A will call with anything less than 10-10.

Against AA, KK or a higher pair the 10-5 will only win approximately 15%. With 10-10 to 5-5 it's approx. 25% and with 4-4 to 2-2, just about a coin flip.

Summing up the All-In

Take the time to read and fully grasp the principles behind this article. Try and fully grasp the concepts behind what's going on in this example and think about ways to put these lessons into your own play.

While poker is not a hard game to learn it is a very hard game to win money at regularly if you are playing seriously.

But if (and when) you learn how to play online poker well then you'll make some great money. Why?

It's because 80% or more players won't ever make this sort of play level.

So you, if you can get to a good standard will do very well very easily. You don't have to be a TV pro to make good money in poker!

The fact that most players are at such a low competence ensures that when you hunt/play them on free online poker sites or low stakes sites you'll be able to clean up.

To learn to play poker for free go look at NoPayPOKER blog, the free poker lessons there cover all levels from beginner to advanced, plus, the site itself as a free online poker site is the perfect place to practice what you learn.