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Move-In - To initiate a bet consisting of all of your chips.
Certain bets, particularly large wagers or bold bluffs, are sometimes referred to as “moves.” This is because when you make these
types of bets, you are often trying to win the pot outright at that point, without getting any further
action. In layman’s terms, you are “making a move”
or “moving” on the pot. Moves can be big or small, depending upon the size of the wager, the amount of money at stake, and their
effectiveness. Moves can also sometimes refer to non-betting actions, such as body language, but most of the time that you hear
someone talk about a “move,” they are referring to a bet.
It is important to note that making a move, or moving-in, is not the same thing as “moving somebody out,” although the latter can
result from the former. When you move somebody out of the pot, you get them to throw their hand away, typically by making a wager.
This is often done intentionally, by players who feel that they have to thin the field or bluff in order to win the pot.
Strategically, there are certain times when you want to move your opponent out of the pot, and there are other times when this is not
appropriate.
There are many types of betting moves, but one of the most powerful and frequently used moves is the all-in wager. This move is not
available to players in games with structured betting (limit games) unless the player in question has less than one full bet in their
stack, in which case the move would likely be ineffective. Rather, the
all in move is an effective tool for players who play
in unstructured (no-limit) and semi-structured (pot limit, spread limit) games. In no-limit games, players may go all in at any time,
so long as it is their turn to act. In pot limit and spread limit games, players may only go all in if the size of their stack is eligible,
based upon the size of the pot or the spread. This can be a powerful play in either case. There are many descriptive terms for an all-in wager,
including moving-in, pushing, shoving, and many others. The term “moving in” is really a combination of “making a move” and “going all in.”
When a player moves in during a cash game, it is often because
they have sensed an opportunity to profit, and so they pounce. This happens in tournaments also, but in addition to this, players also
frequently plan future moves during tournament play. This is not done nearly as much in cash games. The reason for this is because there
is a dynamic at play in tournaments that is only a minor factor in cash games. The dynamic that forces players to plan ahead in tournaments
much more so than they do in live games is the fact that tournament play centers around the ever increasing blind, whereas in cash games
the blind amount is typically static. This means that all tournament players must continuously add to their stacks at a consistent rate or
they face the prospect of being blinded off, whereas in a ring game they would blind off at a much slower rate. So, the risk of being
blinded off is much higher in a tournament format, and it is this risk that drives players to make moves that they otherwise might not make
in a cash game. Of course, the implications of this reach much further.
We know that in cash games, what ultimately matters is the difference between what you have bought in for and what you cash out.
Another way of putting this is, in cash games, what matters is the number of chips that you have. Tournaments are different. The
dollar value of your stack is irrelevant. What matters in tournament play is the relative size of your stack to that of your opponents as
well as to the size of the blinds. Tournament players are keenly aware of this. They must try to “keep up with the blinds” by adding
to their stacks proportionally to the blind increases. They also have to try to keep up with their opponents stacks, so that they
don’t get out chipped too badly. This pressure, combined with an advanced theory concept called “fold equity,” incentivizes tournament
players to make moves and take additional risks that they would not take in cash games. In fact, when players become critically
short stacked, they often have to move in at
least once, and sometimes several times, often with very subpar hands, to avoid being blinded off. This completely different approach
to risk management may help to explain why so few players are exceptionally good at both tournament play and ring game play.
Usage: Moved In When The Ace Hit, Moving In With Pocket Aces, Nice All-In Move
Previous Poker Term: Monster
Next Poker Term: Muck
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