Is going all in pre flop necessary to win tournaments? (2024)

I have this thing in my head put in mainly by commentary from the likes of Mike Sexton that in order to win tournaments, you sometimes have to go all in pre flop. Is this true or can you play entirely by waiting for your hole cards to fit the flop? I ask because if it's true that you have to flip for pots, it seams like you are relying heavily on luck alone. I also have a catastrophic history of being at the losing end when I attempt to flip for pots. Something like only winning 1 in 10 of them. Aces have been the only hand that clears a board most times for me. Obviously you can't just wait for aces. What do you think?

That's a good question. Every tournament I've made the final table in, I've gone all in pre flop at least twice. I think it would be a good experiment to see if you could at least get to the FT without going all in. It might be a long game though lol.

usually I go all in pre flop with accessible hands like AA QQ KK usually if I see that I have 20bbs or less I go without fear of the flop hitting bad !

i play mainly 9-max turbo sngs and i would say that yes, especially for turbo tournaments you gotta put all your chips in the middle at least once every time, assuming you're playing the correct ranges. otherwise you just bleed out before you even get to the money lol

in most cases yes, specially in late stages you might have to shove all in in order to steal the blinds or to protect yours from the sb with a good hand. also you are probably going to face some coinflip all in preflop scenarios as well.

This is a wierd question.
Its like asking if you can win a tournament by just calling bet on the flop with set. Maybe its possible but its not the optimal way to play.
The value of chips+ antes is worth so much in the later stage, going all in preflop is the optimal way. You can play not optimal but why ?

By betting allin you can not influence the distribution of the result is that it is just a coin as in roulette. Allin put only a stack of 10-15 larger blinds or less.

Yes especially with short stacks you often need to move all-in preflop. And even with deeper stacks it can still be the best play. If your opponent 4-bets, and you hold AA or KK, there is very little reason to not put in 5-bet and hope, that he call with worse. Or just take down a big pot right here and now especially with KK, which can easily get drawn out on by any AX hand.

Since the blinds are constantly increasing in the tournament and at the late stage of the tournament there are a lot of players with a small number of blades and with a high degree of probability there will come a time when you need to take risks and go all-in !!!

If you don't know how to play the push-fold stage, then you won't win the tournament.

You can wait until your hole cards hit the flop and win. The problem become how often will you win this way. Not very often. Also what hands are you happy with when you hit? do you need top pair or is 2nd good. You wont hit top pair that often and even then it may not be good. I think you need to go all in at time. Not a lot but some to win a tournament.

Preflop Racing is part of tourneys. It might be possible, as anything is, regarding your question, however you should learn how to race, how you get to the starting line, what “race car” you should use…instead of building a strategy that don’t include that aspect at all. If you don’t participate, your a spectator.

It's necessary,but win or lose depend on your luck

Going pre flop allin becomes a dominating strategy when you are small stack ( 10 - 15BB). And at times even when you are large stack trying to pressurize mid size stacks near the Bubble.

You need to go to the bank if you have a good hand, this is my opinion

All in on the preflop is random. It is almost impossible to win several all-ins in a row. If you don't have good luck charms in your pocket. Today AK will win against 78, and in the next hand everything will change. Because the chances of winning are almost the same on the preflop.
For example, if I find myself at the table with poker legend Eric Seidel, I never win against him. But if I start pushing all in on the preflop at least 70% of the hands, then I will have a chance to win against a professional. Random increases the chances of weak players to beat the strong.

Some players on any pair go to All-in

Interesting topic. The truth is that in big tournaments I don't think there is a single player who advances to the final table without going all in preflop more than once. At least that is my perception of what I have seen live and what I have experienced and seen online. There is always, always, a time when you have to go all in preflop either because you have a high pair and want to make more chips, or because you need to steal the chips that are on the table. Regards.

It takes a pair,,,

I think it's only reasonable when you are very short and have a decent hand. Otherwise, you will just waste the value of your premium hands and never get calls from worse. Slowplaying KK or QQ can be painful if you have to fold when there's an Ace on the board, but w/ KK you will still have top pair 80% of the time and be able to value bet for much more than the blinds and antes you get for a shove - without risking your stack.

It's all about the proper timing & the story you tell at the table.