Busted out with AKo - wait for a better opportunity?

[Rocco]

Ok... Just finished 130-something in Party Super Monday. Forgot to log in at the forum and participate in the official thread. Now I'm at work dead tired after getting up at 03.00 to play this tournament, guess I won't do it again unless I have vacation...

So, I busted with AKo. Stack was ~4000 and blinds at 200/400. UTG (raises a lot) raises to 1500, folded to my right neighbour who cold-calls. I don't have any particular reads on him other than he seems to be pretty solid. I'm not worried about having UTG beat, but should my neighbour's cold-call ring some alarm bells?

I pushed and you can guess the outcome...

For further info, I was gunning for a higher place rather than making it into the money. Then maybe it's a good spot for gambling?

[Mammux]

The push was good.

-Magnus

[Superfluous Man]

I like the push here. You're at 10x BB, and if you take the pot down here, you almost double up without a showdown. If you get called by the LAG utg (or maybe he'll reraise with something like AQo to get the other guy out; hey, a guy can dream) you're probably ahead, and probably something like a 3:1 favorite against worse ace or worse king. If the LAG folds and the solid player has a lower PP, he'd be correct to call getting 2:1 or so on a coinflip. But hey, you almost always have to win some coinflips to go deep in the money.

Anyway, you can't really expect to get a better hand with which to try and double up in the next few orbits. It's time to make a stand. Sorry it didn't work out.

[zaxx19]

Gosh, I think thats a great situation for you....
Most of the times you will be flipping for an inflated pot...@ 10XBB thats great isnt it?

[Rocco]

Is there anyone here who sees a big red flag when my neighbour in MP1 limps in a raised pot? A friend of mine (not a 2+2er but a damn good tournament player) says that a limp from a good player when pot is already raised 4xBB UTG, and blinds are high, often means he's got rockets or very close to... If it were just for UTG's raise, a push is obvious, but in this case I can wait for a better opportunity? It's not that I'm going to be blinded out in the next couple of rounds since I have 10xBB.

[betgo]

You have to push with 10xBB against two players in a raised pot. This is a good situation for you. There are not many situations where you are not going to push with 10xBB and AK.

Generally, if someone flat calls a raise, you would not put him on a hand bigger than AK. I guess the caller had AA. That is a play known as second hand low, when you flat call an early position raise from early to mid position with AA. Doyle Brunson won a huge pot with this play in the PSI. However, you can't fold a big hand when there is an early position raiser and caller, fearing the caller has aces.

If you have 10xBB and get AK versus AA, you will probably bust out. That is just bad luck.

[Sam T.]

Stack sizes would help here, especially in interpreting the cold-call. If he's a big-stack and has at least half a brain, the call probably means any pocket pair or a hand that looks suspiciously like yours. He wants to see a flop, and maybe steal if it's raged. So this is an easy push.

If he's cold-calling for big chunk of his stack and has at least half a brain, it's more likely that he's on a monster and is willing to risk letting more people into the pot in an effort to increase his return. A push then becomes more dangerous, but remains the right play. If he's on aces, Merry Christmas to him.

My two cents,

Sam

[KalmazooRob1]

Should of waited. My opinion and mine only, AK is probably the most overplayed hand I see. A pair of deuces are a 11-10 favorite over AK. Small favorite, but still favored. I see AK get pushed very strongly, but if your up against any pair your in trouble. How many times have you seen AK get drilled, when it is pushed all in preflop. LOTS.
I only raise with AK and only play it strongly, if I flop to it.

[Rocco]

I've been thinking about this hand over and over again. I don't think it's a clear push just because I have AK. Consider being in my neighbour's shoes. He cold-called a raise from UTG for about 1/5 of his stack (forgot to mention stack sizes but UTG had ~5500 and my neighbour had ~8000). Now... If you were my neighbour, what hands would you cold-call this raise with? I'd only do it with AA and KK and those hands have me dominated. Up til now, I hadn't seen my opponent do anything out of line and I can see some good players cold-call this with a mid/high PP.

With this in mind... It's a coinflip against PP's up to QQ and I'm in pretty bad shape against KK and AA. Analyze my opponents play and determine if it's still an easy push. Read his mind and don't just say it's online and he can have any hand. It's a $150+12 tournament and this player has made to the bubble. What if I knew he was a 2+2er? I agree with the last poster that too many people here just push anytime with AKo just because it's a good hand...