A-K all in?

[angelo alba]

NLH first hand. You don't know them they don't know you. 10 handed. You get A-Ko

Under what conditions would you go all in?

Remember, it's the first hand. Where would you have to be sitting, and what would the action have to be from the other players before you decide to leap?

[Greg (FossilMan)]

None. Never.

If the game just started, I'm going to be sitting there with at least 100x the big blind. I don't bet 100 to win 1.5 or 2, so the only way I could go all-in only raising the pot would be if there were a few raises ahead of me, in which case I probably just fold.

There is only occasionally any good reason to bet much more than the pot.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

I was thinking never, also. But then I read your response (and its assumptions) and it got me thinking about some real crapshoot tournaments that I've seen. I would say that if I were in late position, the pot had already been open raised from mid to late position, and the initial stack size was so small that raising all in wouldn't be much larger than raising the pot, then I could see going all-in.

For example: Blinds 1 & 2. Cuttoff open raises to 8, and we start with 40. Going all in looks pretty good since you can't afford to wait for a situation better than this.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

True, but there aren't that many tourneys where the second pot-sized raise requires half your stack or more.

As a general rule, if the pot-sized raise I would have made requires about half my stack or more, I raise all-in instead.

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[DJA]

There are 2 reasons I would go all-in with this hand the first hand with AKo...

1. I am in a really crazy rebuy tournament, and I think a weaker hand (or 2) is very likely to call me without having a dominating hand call me... Once a week, there is a tournament like this in my home town. There are a few players who play like maniacs before the rebuy period is over. I join them, but I try to be in with a better hand then theirs. AKo is often the best hand in these situations. So betting T1500 into a T30 pot when you are reasonably sure someone with 2 random cards will call is a good play IMO.

2. There is 1 player I know in this tournament who has gone in on the first hand of the tournament without looking at his cards... Again... I would call with weaker hands then AKo if it was heads up...

If it was real money, and I know nothing of the players, and my stack is reasonably deep, I would never go all-in unless I had some additional information (like his hole cards).

Just My Thoughts,