First in with AK one off button???

[dowlinga]

Multi-table NL Holdem tourney at UltimateBet. Down to the final 30 out of 97, top 10 pay (though 6-10 are very small). Anyway, I have AKo, one off the button, full table, and all have folded up to me. Blinds are currently 100-200. My stack is 1500. Button has about 2700, SB has 7500 and BB is smallest stack, about 700. What's the play to make here? I raised to 450 and everyone folded. Should I have just limped? Or just be happy that I took the blinds and raise again next time. Im fairly new to NL play, Ive been doing well in recent NL tournies (last four made top 20) but feel like Im missing out on opportunities with certain hands like AK or AQ, which are keeping me out of the money. Is it best to limp in that situation or is it almost always a raise to make. Thanks!

[Hotrod0823]

I am new to NL Hold'em as well but I think you have to raise in that situation with 3 more behind the CO, the Button and the blinds you may still get a caller. I think maybe a smaller raise would bring in the SB but don't think a 450 raise is out of line. You bet 450 and picked up 300 without seeing what may have been an awful flop.

Would limping in for 200 seeing a scary flop and then folding to any sizeable bet from the BB be better? I don't think so. IF you only limped you run the risk of the Blinds hitting something with complete trash and crushing your AKo.

Hotrod

[Cornbread Maxwell]

If I were in your situation, short stacked, and with everyone having folded to me, I'm going all in. If no one calls, you pick up $300 in blinds, which is 20% of your stack size and allows you to survive another round. AKo is not a hand you want to let your opponent see a flop with at this point, since you're pot committed regarless of how much you raise pre-flop. If he calls you with a pocket pair, I'd take my chances being slightly behind on a coin flip, but many times these players (if they have a big stack) will call a short stack allin with AQ, KQ, or much, much worse.

Of course, if you had $4000 in chips, or an above average chip count, I'd definitely just raise 2.5-3x the BB and be willing to fold if things looked scary.

[CrisBrown]

Hi dowlinga,

You played it correctly. AK is a TERRIBLE hand to trap with, because all you have is Ace-high. If you limp, you let the BB in with any two random cards, and unless an A or K falls, you have NO idea whether you're ahead or behind.

Be happy with the blinds there. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cris

[soda]

As a short stack at this stage of the tournament, you should be happy with the blinds with just about any hand. My best played tournies are the ones where I don't have to look at a flop. My guess is that you need to get more aggressive towards the end of these tournies when everyone ELSE tightens up. Start stealing some blinds and you'll make the money.

/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

soda