[Easy E]

"To illustrate the problem of going all-in, let’s say that I’m in a tournament of 100 people and 9 have been knocked out. I have AA in LP and before me one player goes all-in. Should I go all-in? The answer is probably not. Against a lower pair I’m a 4-1 favorite but finished #90 out of 100 20% of the time would kill my rating (unless I finished in the top 10% the rest of the time). So even in this very favorable situation I think that going all-in is incorrect."

If ALL you are concerned about is your rating in a tournament, then play however the heck you want. If you want to learn how to WIN tournaments (or at least get paid), then NOT going all-in with AA here is a crime. Trying to maximize your free tourney ranking is counter-productive towards your real goal (making $1K a month), ESPECIALLY if it's teaching you lessons such as worrying about going all in with Aces.

"Here’s another slightly more complicated example. Let’s say that there are 100 people in the tournament and 50 have been knocked out. I’m in LP with KK. An MP limps in. Should I go all-in?"

Ready? (wait for it.....)


aaaDUHHHHHHHH!!!!

C'mon, if you are NOT willing to risk all of your chips preflop with AA or KK, then you should NOT be playing no-limit (tournament or otherwise).

The ONLY exceptions that I can see to going all-in are:
a) You KNOW for SURE that you can outplay the people already in, later on (if they are all-in) or now, post-flop and beyond... by a BIG margin
b) The rest of the table won't come in without obvious hands
c) Others that would come in cheaply won't be tricky to figure out post-flop.
d) More than one person, whose play I respect, has gone all-in.
e) I can outplay most, if not all, of the people behind me post-flop, if I limp the limper with the two big guns... meaning primarily that I can trap them for mucho dinero post-flop.

Unless most or preferably ALL of the above are true, in which case you can more safely profit (and hopefully increase your profit potential post-flop) with less initial risk.... shove in the chips with a probable large advantage and try to get a leg up on winning the tournament!

If you have to tie yourself in knots, thinking about whether to go all-in with AA and KK pre-flop at ANY stage of the tournament except:
i) near the bubble or
ii) advancing a significant money place
.... then IMO you are in BIG trouble having to think about difficult tourney situations that will occur later on AND which will matter more, long-term, to your tournament success.

IN SUMMARY- If I have AA or KK, all my chips are going in WITH ALMOST NO EXCEPTIONS! If I get knocked out, so be it- the gods weren't with me today. I'll worry about maximizing my return later- i'm doubling through RIGHT NOW.

(I was actually surprised that no one else said to go all-in....)