By Tony Guerrera

What is the Stop-and-Go?

Some people hear the phrase “stop-and-go” and think of 24″ spinners on an Escalade. Others might contrive some strange sexual maneuver. Forget all that stuff, though, because we’re here to talk about poker! The stop-and-go can be used in poker games besides no-limit hold’em, but since no-limit hold’em is today’s most popular poker variant, and because the stop-and-go is usually only discussed with respect to no-limit hold’em, this article will focus on the stop-and-go in the context of no-limit hold’em.

Different people define the stop-and-go in slightly different ways. Sometimes, people refer to calling a preflop raise from the blinds against a suspected late position stealer with the intention of leading out with a bet the flop. I prefer a more generalized definition of the stop-and-go. You call a bet out of position preflop, on the flop, or on the turn with the intention of leading out with a bet on the next round.

The Stop-and-Go Preflop

When you’re in a tournament, and you’re becoming short-stacked, facing an aggressive blind stealer can be a slight problem. One option is to respond to your opponent’s suspected blind steal attempts by pushing all-in. While going over-the-top is a viable option, and a weapon you’ll need to use occasionally, two problems exist if going over the top preflop is your only defense.

First, if your stack is around six or seven big blinds, your all-in won’t carry sufficient fold equity to make your opponent fold. Some aggressive players might call your all-in any two cards even if it’s to eight big blinds. Therefore, there’s a minimum stack size required to make going over the top preflop with less than premium cards a viable option. Second, if your stack is more than twelve big blinds, and you’re facing a standard raise to three blinds, reraising all-in preflop results in you risking too much relative to the amount of chips you stand to steal. Allowing for exceptions to exist, in general, going over the top all-in to rebluff your opponent is really only worth it if you have between nine and thirteen big blinds.

The alternative to going over the top is using the stop and go. Simply call your opponent’s raise preflop. If a half-pot bet won’t cripple your stack, then make a half-pot bet on the flop. Else, push all-in. Of course, there’s no rule saying that you need to defend against an incessant blind stealer. Just because you can use a stop-and-go against a blind stealer, it doesn’t mean that you should. Before using the stop-and-go, evaluate your table and whether your opponent might be aware of this trick (if your opponent is aware, then he might call your all-in with as little as ace-high).

The Stop-and-Go Postflop

Postflop, the stop-and-go can accomplish many tasks. If you’re facing a habitual continuation bettor, you can check/call on the flop with the intention of bluffing on the turn. Even if you think the positional bettor has something, you can consider using a stop-and-go to feign slowplaying a big hand. To do this, perhaps check/call the flop and the turn with the intention of leading out on the river.

If you have a marginal hand, you can check/call on the flop with the intention of making blocking bets on the turn and the river. Doing this keeps the pot small when you’re in a marginal situation with a positional disadvantage. Additionally, by making blocking bets, you will be able to get away from your marginal hand if your opponent raises you, and you might also get your opponent to call bets with inferior hands that he wouldn’t bet with. Against relatively straightforward opponents, the stop-and-go from the flop to the turn saves you money when you’re behind and simultaneously makes you money when you’re ahead.

The stop-and-go from the turn to the river has the same effect as the stop-and-go from the flop to the turn. The additional benefit of employing this line of play from the turn to the river is that some positional bettors on the turn do so with the intention of taking a free showdown on the river. When such bettors are bet into on the river, they’ll usually muck anything worse than two pair.

Lots Of Advantages

You shouldn’t use the stop-and-go all the time simply because it’s a great line of play. However, you should recognize all of its benefits and add it to your arsenal. No-limit hold’em carries such a huge positional advantage, but the reality is that you’ll have to play some hands out of position. The key to playing hands out of position is to keep pots small and seize the initial aggressor advantage. The stop-and-go works well because it accomplishes both of these tasks.

Tony Guerrera is the author of Killer Poker By The Numbers

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