Full Tilt $20 Multi Scenario

[Lucas McCain]

$20 buy in 40 mins into the tourneyment, I have 6200 chips 101 entered 64 remaining. Blinds are 40/80 I put it to 220 with KK in middle position and the SB raises to 650 comes back around to me and I put my whole stack into the pot. He sits for 5 seconds and calls 6200 with AJ off he has 440 more chips than me gets his Ace I am out. What is it that these guys are thinking when they call off this valuable a chip stack with this horrible a hand? I dont know......

[Nottom]

Dude he had AJ!!!

[Kevin K.]

Who knows, happens too many times a day to count. Take solace in the fact that this is where your money comes from. /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Schwartzy61]

I don't post here much but it seems this should probably have been posted in the Multi-Table Tournaments Forum?

On point, I feel your pain. 4 or 5 times in the last two weeks I have been dealt a seriously crippling blow when a player called my all-in and I held KK and he held a weak ace. I think the best I got called with was AJo like yourself, and each time I lost either my whole stack or a significant portion that pretty much crippled me for the rest of the tournament.

The one thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that in the long run KK will beat an ace/random hand nearly 70% of the time.

Don't let it affect the way you play your KK because it is still the second best hand in hold 'em and in most tournaments should be played very aggressively.

I'm sure some people might say that it isn't worth risking that large of a stack without seeing the flop, but if there is someone who is going to give you that kind of action preflop you have to take advantage as much as possible.

If you are worried about it knocking you out try and play the hand like it is Pot Limit and only reraise the amount in the pot thus far. You will probably only get called by those kinds of hands and see a flop without risking your whole stack. If the flop is relatively benign you can make your play at that point. Otherwise you can release your hand and live to fight another day in that particular tournament.

[WriterBoy]

[ QUOTE ]


If you are worried about it knocking you out try and play the hand like it is Pot Limit and only reraise the amount in the pot thus far. You will probably only get called by those kinds of hands and see a flop without risking your whole stack. If the flop is relatively benign you can make your play at that point. Otherwise you can release your hand and live to fight another day in that particular tournament.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that the best way to play would be to go all-in _before_ the flop just as you did. It would just frustrate you more to see that ace hit the flop. If that guy didn't have an ace, but pimped that he did, you'd be tempted to fold the best hand. At least if you push them pre-flop you can still go in with the best hand without over-stressing if you get sucked out like that.

I would take solace from watching the WPT. You invariably see a hand just as the one you experienced, so even the pros do it.

[Schwartzy61]

I haven't changed my strategy based on what has happend with KK. I'm the guy who will always go all-in preflop with AA or KK except in certain situations when someone does that little limp-reraise that smells an aweful lot like AA to me. It's cost me in the short run but I know eventually it will pay off big. And I think it surprises most players to see someone go all in with AA. I think a lot of guys feel AA is a "limping" hand for some reason and don't really suspect you to play it that fast.

What I was trying to show in my post is an alternative way to play it, especially if you are early in the tournament and don't want to risk your entire chip stack on KK.

I still think the best strategy in tournaments like that is to try and go for a quick double up with the 1st and 2nd best hands in hold 'em. I don't question that at all. Just trying to add something beyond the obvious /images/graemlins/wink.gif