The „Stop and Go“ play
Hey folks, in my first strategic article we will discuss the „Stop and Go“ play. In order to give you an idea of what this play means, and why it is worth knowing and using it, we will resolve some problems and find answers to the following questions.
1.What is the “Stop and Go” play?
2.When do we use it?
3.Why do we use it?
So what is the basic idea of this game play and why is it called “Stop and Go” ?
Well at first, it is called “Stop and Go”, because it is exactly described by its name. You are sitting in one of the blinds, and a guy in front of you raises. Now you STOP the action by just calling preflop, and GO again for the pot after the flop by shoving all your chips in.
That’s the point, you STOP the action preflop, in order to take the action and Go for the pot after the flop.
When do we use it?
This type of play can only be used under the following preconditions:
1.Your M is pretty low, perhaps 3-6.
2.You are sitting in one of the blind seats
3.You are heads-up against one single opponent
4.Your hand has to be good, but not a powerhouse (a pair of sixes is perfect)
Why do we use it?
This is the difficult part to understand. Many players would say: “wait sir! I have a good hand, my M is low, there is a big pot to be won, so I move all in preflop. If he folds…fine, and if not, I got a descent hand.”
That’s all true. But still, sometimes we have a better plan to just shove our chips in. To see why, lets look at this problem out of the raisers eyes:
You (MP3) have a stack of 10.000. The blinds are 250 and 500 with an ante of 25. With the blinds and antes, the pot contains 750+9x25=975 or to make it simple 1000. So you have an M of 10, not as good as you wish, but not bad either.
You look at your hand and deside to raise with your KJs to 1250 (2,5xBB). Everybody folds to the big blind, who has a stack of 3500 left.
Now we stop for a while and look at two different ways the hand can develope.
a)the big blind pushes all in. so now the pot contains his 3500+250(SB)+250(ante)+1250(yours) = 5250 and you have to call 2250. so you get 2,3:1 odds. Pretty easy call with almost any holding. Even against a pair of queens you`re doing fine (you win about 32% against the queens).
b)The big blind just calls your raise. The flop comes Q87 rainbow. The pot contains 1250+1250+250+250=3000. Now the big blind shoves his last 2250 in. Again the pot is 5250 and you have to call the 2250. But now there is a big problem. Your hand didn’t improve on the flop. So your chance of beating even a low pair like 22 is down to about 24%. Now you don’t have the odds you need to call this bet. Probably he is semi bluffing with a hand like 9Ts, 56s, JT and so on. But even against this type of hands your not a big favourite to win the hand.
Can you see it? When using the “Stop and Go” play, you use your bad position to create a problematic situation for the original raiser after the flop, instead of pushing all your chips in preflop giving him a pretty easy call with almost anything.
So you have created foldequity out of nothing 
So now you can imagine, why your M has to be so low to make the “Stop and Go” play a usefull weapon. If your M is lower then 3, you have no fold equity no matter what – any raise against you commits the raiser to the pot. But when your M gets higher and higher, your fold equity grows steadily with your M when pushing all in preflop! So when your M is big enough (say about 5-6) and you think you have some foldequity, the best play might be to take the extra equity and push all in.
The “Stop and Go” play should only be used in situations, where you think you don’t have any fold equity preflop, but you might have some on the flop.
BUT BE AWARE! WHEN YOU USE THIS PLAY, YOU HAVE TO MOVE ALL IN ON THE FLOP, NO MATTER WHAT CARDS COME!
You might be afraid of a flop like AK3 when holding 66, but he might hold TT and fold to your apparently pair of Aces or Kings! True, he MIGHT hold an ace, but you were willing to put all your chips at risk with your pair of sixes, so go your way and see what happens! That play is not for chicken! And if you`re a chicken, just hold your hand on the screen and push all in “in the dark”
Remember, this plan only works if you are first to act after the flop! When he is ooP his continuation bet will destroy your plan! So only use this play if you are in the blinds! (be aware! When sitting in the small blind, the big blind is still left to act, and a simple all in preflop might be better, because of the chance your call will cause an overcall by the big blind)
Of course this play works best with ONE opponent. Against two opponents, the chance that the flop hit one of them is just too big. Just move all in preflop or fold.
To see why your hand has to be good, but not a powerhouse lets look at the situation above.
You are the big blind with 3500 left. The blinds are 250/500 with 25antes.
A guy sitting in MP3 raises to 1250 and you look at your cards. Aces. Bang! Jackpot!
Now you have read this article and think “well I make a stop and go play now”.
DANGER! DANGER!
The “Stop and Go” play is designed to create fold equity. Do you really want to create fold equity with a pair of Jacks or better? If so, insert another coin and try again!
So when holding a real powerhouse, which is a favourite against your opponents range, just go ahead and move all in. The “Stop and Go” play is used to make him fold on the flop, instead of creating an easy call for him preflop.
So with your best hands, just push all in! With your weak holdings, just fold. But with hands like 22-66, AJ, ATs, when you think you`re probably behind his range, go ahead and try the “Stop and Go” play. Its hard to defend against it although your opponent knows you are capable of this play, he can never tell if you hit the flop or not.
If i find a good sample hand next time i will convert it into this thread.
now i hope you got a good idea of he basic idea of this play and im ready for questions and other opinions.
plz forgive me my little grammar and spelling mistakes, im still just a kraut
