AKo UTG - 23 left out of 1,000

[Kips Bay Kid]

23rd place only pays $24, 1st place pays $1,000

I am at a table with t45k - 3rd smallest stack, most of us are within t10k of each other, chipleader has been pushing people around and is at about t120k.

Did I play this right?

Limp in from UTG, anticipating going ALL-IN on any raise, blinds are 2000-4000 w/ an ante (forget how much)

3 folds after I limp, chip leader pushes in for t45k putting me ALL-IN, I call, he turns over QQ.

My thinking is I could have done this four different ways:
A) Make a standard opening raise to 8-10k and hope to steal the blinds, if I get put ALL-IN call
B) Go ALL-IN from UTG
C) Limp and fold to any bet that puts me ALL-IN
D) Limp and hope for a raiser and then go ALL-IN

My thinking is A, C, & D would be met with the same reaction from the chipleader - putting me ALL-IN, and it would not surprise me to have the same reaction if I go with B - but maybe that is the best option.

Comments?

[zaxx19]

Oh cmon. No way he is letting go of QQ here. I dont care If you havent played a hand in 8 orbits he is calling a 1/3rd of his stack off with QQ. If your set with rolling with AKo here then itreally doesnt matter. I think its fine too make a stand with AK here and you didnt run into AA or KK or even AKs so you got what you basically knew was coming(if yu got called anyway) a 44%~ shot at doubling up. CHEERS

[bads33d]

I dont really like limping utg with ak, no matter what chip leader would of pushed, so dont do the what ifs.

But next time, I would at least open for 2.5x the big blind or at least mini raise from utg with ak.

[Spidurman]

He's not letting go of QQ - he's moving you in or calling you there. If he folds, he's Phil Hellmuth in disguise.

You have about 10x the BB, I personally like the play of opening for about 3x with the intention of pushing. Your UTG raise will cut off any stealers and I would expect the big stack to set you in there (I would from his shoes). At that point you're either a race or you dominate him (Obviously AA and KK are 'you're screwed').

I absolutely hate the limp though - you just let weaker hands in potentially (including the blinds) which can hurt if the wrong flop hits. You have good cards - use em.

[morgan180]

I don't like the limp here, 3 X BB raise it. I mean you have to go in to this hand thinking that since you have an aggressive big stack you have a good chance of being re-raised anyway, so you don't need to limp and give other other short stacks a chance to see a cheap flop with some less-than-premium hands that could cause trouble for you.

Get this pot heads up against the chip leader so he can give you a chance to double up.

I think you got what you wanted, he didn't have AA or KK and just lost the race.

[tiger7210]

At 10x BB with 15% of your stack in the pot before the flop with blinds and antes I blieve your best play is to push your AK which I believe disguises your hand a bit. Obviously the big stack is calling with his QQ's regardless but AK is alaways a hand I want to get all my chips in with preflop.

You're going to miss 2 out of 3 flops and hands like Axs may call or even smaller pairs that would have folded to your all in. Then your forced to make a decision on the flop when you've missed.

I would rather have AQ/ AJ call my all in thinking its a possible race situation and get them all in preflop where they can't get away.

Same with a smaller to mid pair when you hit the flop you've missed the chance of getting all their chips. You're more than likely not getting anything else out of them on an A or K flop.

I believe the beauty of AK is when you are called you're normally no worse than a coin flip and you have a great chance to double up. If you had 15-20X BB then i think a standard 3x BB raise is more suitable from UTG. Just my opinion.

[ZeeJustin]

Don't limp. What do you do if you get a caller, the BB checks, and you miss the flop?

Go all-in. That play should have the best EV.

[morgan180]

[ QUOTE ]
What do you do if you get a caller, the BB checks, and you miss the flop?

[/ QUOTE ]

good point - push and get your shot at being doubled up by the chip leader.

[DonkeyKong]

if 7 left to act, there is only a ~3% (~31-1) chance that one of the hands dealt behind you is AA or KK. You want to put 77 and 88 and even 99 to the test here and get them to lay down and steal their thunder of pushing in on you. You will just have to race with QQ JJ TT and maybe 99 in the end.

3% = bad situation
12% = race (QQ-99)
~12% = somebody gets AQ or AJ and you dominate them
~4% = somebody else also has AK
= 2/3+ of the time, everyone will fold and you pick up the blinds and live on...

I think a case can be made for pushing all-in right from the start to get small pairs to lose their chance of pushing you off your hand - First Mover Advantage...

as Sklansky says: "[pusing with AK] will win the pot without a fight very often, which is the largest aspect to making this a profitable play." (p 118 TPFAP).

[zaxx19]

Yeah he will add folding equity, bit is that what he is looking for at this point?? Do you want to win the blinds and antes or do yu want a flip for all your chips. As weak tight as I am here, I still think I want too double up.