“Moving all-in before the flop is one of the most powerful plays in No Limit Hold’em.  It’s also one of the most dangerous” – Phil Gordon

When is it right to move all-in before the flop?

- When you have the best hand and believe your opponent will call.
- When you have the worst hand and believe your opponent will fold (The pot must be big enough to steal)
- When you have the worst hand, but even if your opponent calls, you are getting great odds on your money
- When you are getting the right pot odds no matter what your opponent holds
- When you have the best hand, and your opponent has the right pot odds to call, but an all-in bet might scare him into folding.

This only works well when you are in position (keep this in mind!).  If you get some early position limpers and you plan to play the hand, raise it!  If players are limping (showing weakness) then you want to make them pay to play weak – or take over their chips as they didnt put the pressure on you.

In almost every occasion, if it is folded around to the small blind and he calls – Raise.  If he has a hand, generally he would have raised you!

Here are some good guidelines on how much to raise and when:

In Early Position: Raise 3x BB
In Middle Position: Raise 4x BB
In late position: Raise 5x BB
In Small Blind: Raise 3.0xBB
In Big Blind: Raise Pot

There are many reasons for this, which I will outline below: When first in the pot, Raise!

1. Limit the competition
2. Take control of the betting
3. To better define your opponents hands
4. To hide the strength of our hands
5. To win the blinds