There often comes a time in a tournament when your chip stack is dwindling and you start looking for an opportunity to move all-in pre-flop with any half decent start cards. There is however an alternative approach which can be effective at the right moment called the stop-and-go play. This is the act of calling a pre-flop raise, often from the big blind seat, with the intention of betting out first – and you must be first to act – on almost any flop. This bet will often be an all-in manoeuvre and is arguable most effective as such. For the play to be effective there is an element of luck involved but not nearly so much as you might expect. The timing of the stop-and-go should be based on a number of factors that can increase the likelihood of success.
So why is the stop-and-go a good idea in general terms? One simple reason would be that many flops won’t really hit anybody and consequently the first person to bet will often triumph. To some extent this is the same reason why the continuation bet from a pre-flop raiser is frequently effective. It’s good to be the aggressor. Of course it’s more likely that the flop helps nobody when fewer players are involved meaning that the stop-and-go is best utilised in a head-to-head scenario.
Another positive is if the stop-and-go bet forces a fold then a decent pot has been won without a showdown. Too many showdowns with all your chips in the middle will soon see you eliminated even if you are often the favourite. Winning pots uncontested is a good thing. So crucially, how likely is the opponent to fold to this bet? Well not very is the answer, if your chip stack is tiny. This play requires you to have enough chips to make your opponent consider the limited merits of calling with very little or nothing. Assuming your stack gives you this ‘fold equity’ then your rival should be reluctant to call simply because he has only the turn and river cards remaining to improve his hand.
Compare this with the alternative where you push quite a short-stack all-in pre-flop. Let’s say that you hold A-10o in the big blind when the blinds are 200-400 and you have 3000 chips remaining. The big stack bully has raised you from late position for the umpteenth time. You need 1000 chips to call but think you’re probably ahead so you move all-in. The big stack has outstanding value to call with pretty well any 2 cards in this scenario with the pot odds on offer, and a showdown is inevitable. Let’s say he has 9-7suited and therefore a 40% chance of success against your A-10 in a pre-flop clash. Now let’s take the alternative option of the stop-and-go ploy. If the flop arrives J-3-5 (none of his suit) and misses you both then your all-in bet gives the big stack much more to think about. He may still only have 2000 chips to call to make it a pot of 7000 but nothing after the flop is considerably worse than nothing before it, especially without a high start card. His hopes of success are now worse than 26% against you’re A-10 and vitally he has to accept the possibility that you are a much stronger favourite even that that. Were you to hold a Jack then his chances of winning may be as low as 6%. In other words he has to fold.
Cynics may suggest that in this example a pre-flop all-in would have also won, and for a larger pot, as a further 2000 chips would have gone in to ensure the showdown. It is indeed true that the pot would have been larger but with that would come the additional risk of the turn and river cards being revealed. A nine or a seven on either of those and it’s a very different story. But the stop-and-go also has the further golden potential to allow you to win with the worst hand. Imagine this time that you hold A-Q and your opponent has 5-5. If your all-in bet comes after a flop of 8-9-10 how can your rival call? There are so many hands that beat him and even if he does ‘work out’ that he is ahead then you still have about a 40% chance of improving your hand to win.
The notions of your opponent calling for value, or simply because he’s a guy who can’t fold are important. The stop-and-go play is normally a semi-bluff and can be a total bluff in which case it’s best employed against an opponent who is able to lay down a hand. That said, some calls from dubious opponents maybe mathematical errors as suggested by the A-10 example above and could work in your favour anyway.
But far be it from me to suggest that the stop-and-go is some miraculous move that can’t be beaten. My biggest reservation about it is that it screams weakness. Anybody who makes this play will create suspicion in their opponents and will be seen as highly unlikely to have a great hand. Furthermore, there will be many occasions when you will run into a monster hand yourself and crash out of the tournament. But if you’re a short stack looking to push all-in pre-flop then it will all end in tears many times anyway so it’s always a gamble. But hopefully the examples above at least show that there is more than one way to scrap for survival.
Simon Ballou writes for Oddschecker Poker