Pot Committed
You will hear a player say: “Well I gotta call that bet, I am pot committed.” Basically, the player is saying that they have so much of their remaining chip stack in this pot that they have no choice but to move all in. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts in poker and therefore the often misplayed at the tables.
Let’s take an easy one first. In a no limit hold’em tournament, you have 100,000 chips. On the river you bet all in for your last 50,000 chips, one player folds but the other player with only 2,000 chips remaining looks that the pot of over 150,000 and says the magic words: “I’m pot committed.” Well yes, leaving yourself with 2,000 chips when you can win 150,000 might just be a good case for being pot committed.
But what if the situation was that you bet not your last 50,000 but only 10,000 and another player raised all in with more chips than you had. The pot is still over 150,000 and you have 60,000 of your 100,000 already committed to the pot. Are you pot committed? While it is true that folding and having only 40K after starting the hand with 100K is a big hit, you are still in the tournament. If you are beat, you are beat and you should be able to fold and not use the “pc” idea to bust out of the tournament.
Too many player put their remaining chips in the pot, based on chips they had at the beginning of the hand that are already gone into the pot. Being “pot committed” is a decision you make, it is not a fact of life where you must commit your remaining chips. Be careful when you even think you are pot committed.
Join in our Online Poker Forum discussion on being Pot Committed.
-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #198
