Whats the best play??

$30.00 NL Paradise tourney. I have approx $200. left and blinds are 50/100/ I'm utg and dealt AKs. There are 5 players left. Whats the best strategy at this point???

Is this a trick question? Raise all-in.

Kidding?? I don't think so..If I go all in and get no callers I win the Blinds ($150.00) With AKs, AA, KK, QQ Im hoping to get as many callers as I can at this stage of the tournament to build my cash position. I don't feel winning the blinds at this stage will help me very much and odds are I won't be seein a premium hand like that for a while. If your going to have to take a gamble at sometime I would rather do it with premium cards..

All-in is definitely the answer.


Firstly, you won't just win the blinds. The big blind at least is going to call you the vast majority of the time, which means you'll win 250 when you win. Depending upon the situation and how tight everyone is, you might still get 2-4 opponents taking the flop.


Multiple opponents really isn't what you want here. Sure, it would be nice to quintuple up, but the risk of going broke goes up more quickly than the profit potential with most hands, even premium ones. With AA and maybe KK you could consider such a strategy, but nothing else. Even with them, you're probably best off raising.


Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

Many opponents will call here- you'd be surprised how many, because they 'know' you don't have to have a real hand to shove your 200 in, unless you've been playing a ridiculously tight style throughout.


You're better off moving in even with a clearly weaker hand than your suited A-K, because

if you're forced to post your blinds, while adhering to your standard for a hand, you'll be left with 50 in front of you. Even if you double and redouble, you'll be back where you are now, if you're so fortunate as to get two big pairs and have them hold up. You need to think in terms

of taking the initiative here and making your opponents react to you, not the other way round.

Sometimes you'll get sent home more quickly; overall, I expect you'll do better, though.


perfidious

i think you definitely have to push all in, you'll get the big blind calling and probably chip leader too, nobody with chips wants to see you getting a free ride through the blinds.

You're in no position to gamble. AK - suited or not - is a strong hand merely b/c it is only dominated by AA and KK, not b/c it is a huge favorite over a random hand (tens e.g. are much better in that respect: AKs: 67.1%, TT: 75% equity - but here you have to raise to get overcards out)


You lose money with every additional caller, even in ring game or winner-take-all format (where there is no premium on survival). In your situation, the only hand where you can even consider to lure additional callers are aces, and even then you're usually better off moving in.


cu


Ignatius