Yep. People say “Poker is a game of skill”, and that’s true to a certain extent. But pushing all-in pre-flop is just gambling. Any hole cards can win, any can lose, and it all comes down to the odds in the end. That’s why I generally dislike all-in moves like that. But when the odds are likely in your favor, it makes sense to call.
Going all-in pre-flop. Risking your whole stake for likely little gain. Yep, that’s gamblin’ all right.
There are cases where it makes sense, though.
If you are short stacked, with incredibly good whole cards, and somebody raises enough ahead of you that you wouldn’t have much left if you just called, you might as well maximize your ROI by pushing whatever you have left in.
Now, just pushing your chips in right from the get-go just to be aggressive? Yeah, there aren’t many cases that makes sense. Just silently thank them for their no-doubt eventual donation to everyone else’s stacks.
The other scenario where it makes sense is when you decide to play an all-in-or-fold tournament. 
I’m not quite sure that double or nuthin is “likely little gain”. Over the long haul of umpteen hands then yeah, the EV is low for random hole cards.
For one instant case it’s either double, or it’s nuthin. Whatever gsin there may be, it ain’t gonna be little.
Whether A6 was a good gamble or youthful exuberance / ignorance at work is a different question.
Not quite. What usually happens is somebody goes all-in and ends up picking up antes and blinds, which usually aren’t a lot compared to your stack.
But if somebody calls, that’s not good - the only person calling an all-in bet in the first round is somebody with a major hand or somebody who has enough money not to care about losing it. That sort of move picks up piddly antes/blinds frequently against the risk of losing an entire stake occasionally when somebody calls.
As a tactic, it requires paying attention to position and reading the other players well. If you are in a late position and there is a lack of enthusiasm from the prior bettors, you can steal a few modest pots with a relatively large bet (I wouldn’t recommend an all-in unless you think you will at least have some equity against a major hand calling behind you)
Apparently I was about 73% to win and around 4% to tie.
I thought it might be higner than that - I assume the A6 offsuit needs either a 6 or an unlikely straight / flush to win…
I think there’s something inherently fiddleable about poker chips. They stack nicely into small ceramic towers, make that satisfying “klack” sound when shuffled, and feel purpose-built for idle hands in tense moments. It’s soothing, rhythmic, almost meditative. I never felt the urge to fiddle with coins when I used to play nickel-dime-quarter poker with friends—coins don’t have the same feel, sound, or swagger.
It’s not unlike a squeeze ball. I don’t normally have an urge to squeeze something, but if a squeeze ball is in front of me, I can’t not squeeze it.
“Pre-flop”?
“All-in”?
A player is ‘all in’ when they bet all the chips they have remaining at the table.
Poker is usually played for table stakes, i.e. you only risk whatever you have at the table and do not automatically lose if you can’t cover the bet. So, none of that “I don’t have enough, here’s my father’s watch” nonsense. That would be for “no limit” games, where the maximum allowable bet has no limit. There are also “limit” games where the maximum bet or raise is much more constrained.
There are also several variants of poker (draw, stud, high-low, etc). Some of ones that are currently popular have community cards. Games like Omaha or Hold 'Em, among others. In those variants, each player receives a limited number of cards, and there are also shared community cards, from which every player will select some to form their final hand. Each player can and usually will select different community cards than other players to form their final hands. And which a player may want to select can change as additional community cards are dealt.
These cards are typically not dealt all at once but over a series of rounds (or “streets” as they are sometimes called), each with a round of betting. The ‘flop’ is the slang term for the first round of dealing community cards. There is usually a round of betting before this, which would be pre-flop.
I know it’s a good day whenever I…flop the nuts.