Tough Decision with AK

[Shaun]

You have roughly 4000 chips, pretty far away from the money at this point. The blinds are 200-400 with antes of 25. A player in early position (18,000) who has just won the previous hand with 99 opens for 1200. The player directly to his left (10,000) makes it 3600. Both players seem somewhat tight. Only signifcant hand from re-raiser I'd witnessed, he had gone all-in over the top of a button raise from the big blind with A9 and sucked out on button's TT. Original raiser had been getting some good cards- AA twice and a few other big hands in just a few orbits.

Considering this is a decision for all your chips, would you play the AK in this spot, or lay it down?

[tiger7210]

You have 10x BB and an opportunity to possibly triple up. I couldn't get my chips in there fast enough. As long as they don't hold AA's/KK's, which is very possible, you're in decent shape, but at this point in the tourny you can't pass on this opportunity.

[asofel]

anyone want to talk through the logic of the less popular choice here? curious as to what you're thinking...

[adanthar]

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anyone want to talk through the logic of the less popular choice here? curious as to what you're thinking...

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Coming over the top of a button raise is very different from reraising a legitimate UTG raise from UTG+1.

I think the best you can hope for is a split and there's practically no chance you're actually in a flip. 43/57 isn't really good enough, IMO.

[schwza]

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anyone want to talk through the logic of the less popular choice here? curious as to what you're thinking...

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utg+1 would be making a bad mistake to make this play with anything but AK/AQ/pair. and i think it would be a moderate mistake with AQ. thus, it looks pretty unlikely that we're ahead of utg+1, and there's also a chance that utg has a big pair. looks like the best case is that you'll get to play HU against 99-QQ with dead money in the middle, which is good, but not that great. too likely you're going to play AK v AK v QQ or AK v AA, which are all terrible.

[Sam T.]

UTG+1 is looking at a raise from the big stack UTG, and reraises 1/3 of his stack. He's going to felt with this hand, but he doesn't push in order to isolate. Translation: "I'm taking this one all the way, and I hope one of y'all comes along."

[JohnG]

I voted fold. Not great odds on my money v their range of hands, and the chance of being against AA/KK is too high in this spot. Prudence is often the best course when we have not yet committed any chips, assuming there are 2 close choices.

[SoCalPat]

This much I think I know ...

1. I'm not deep enough in the tournament to feel I'm losing a lot by pushing all-in. If I'm in this spot in a Paradise $10 Turbo tournament, it's an easy push.

2. If you're going to gamble (and you have to a time or two in a large multi to win or place high), this is the spot to do it.

3. Calling is out of the question.

4. I can't make a decision unless I think I know what my opponents could have on me as reads. If we've all been at the same table for 30-plus hands and I've folded all but my BB, then I have to believe my all-in would get some hands better than mine to fold -- maybe all the way up to JJ.

I voted push, largely because the kinds of tournaments I play in are low-risk, huge-reward affairs. Being "pretty far away from the money" here goes a ways into my decision. Is this right or wrong?

Now, if I'm in the main event of the WSOP, my thinking would change, mostly with respect to how far I am from the money.

[broomcorn12]

I voted fold. "Pushing" although sounding powerful, is really nothing in this spot, as you have 0 folding equity. 5 percent chance he has AQ. Other than that,IMO you close your eyes and pray for QQ, which ur still a significant dog to. Dont rule out kk for UTG, just cuz he had 99 last time doesnt mean he has it now. Althought pot odds r great for a pair, save ur chips, u still have 13BBs, not in desperation yet.