The fall in

There are three ways of having all your chips go into the middle:

1. the all in
2. the call in
3. the fall in

The all in is when the action is on you and you decide to put all your chips in the middle. The call in is when the action is on you and someone who bet before you bet big enough to put you all in if you call, and you decide to call. The fall in is when you're in the small blind or the big blind, and are so short-stacked that the forced bet puts you all in. You want to avoid the fall in at all costs, since it removes all decision-making from you.

Last night, I had a fall in on hand 24 of the fifth tournament I entered. I was dealt queen four offsuit, and very fortunately paired my queen on the flop; my queens held up, so I had a stay of execution. Unfortunately, I was out in fourth place six hands later.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6        40     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        46     2    94500
 45000      5000           6        19     4        0
 45000      5000           6        44     1   175500
 45000      5000           6        30     4        0
 45000      5000           6        20     4        0

delta: $145,500
tournament balance: $2,195,340
balance: $9,078,039