In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

I've been mulling over my play recently and was thinking back on a situation that arose in a recent tourney I played in, and wanted to see what people's opinion of the play were.

Here's the situation:

11 players left in an 1850 man tournament. Blinds are 30k/15k, I have 240k in the big blind and posted a 30k blind (210k left in front of me). Payouts are:

11-13th 332
10th 369
9th 554
8th 738
7th 1108
6th 1477
5th 1847
4th 2216
3rd 2955
2nd 3952
1st 7388

I am 5th or 6th in chip stack, with the average just shy of 200k. There are two tables left, my table is 5 handed and the other is 6 handed. There are two short stacks, both at the other table (one is 16k, the other around 50k).

The chip leader, a TAG, with around 390k in stack, goes all in UTG. Everyone folds to me, and I am the big blind with AKo. Fold or call?

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

take a wild guess

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

An easy fold for me. I don't want to mess with the chip leader who raises all-in UTG, especially if he is TAG and especially with a drawing hand like AKo. Pocket queens and up yeah but not AKo. Just my newbie .02

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

Whats the reasoning behind even thinking about calling here?? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

possible opponent hands: (9 9) (10 10) (jj) (qq) (kk) (aa)
(ak) and mayyyyybe (aq)

seems like yur a dog against all but the least possible

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

Largely because the table is 5 handed and you are 5x the blinds, and are guaranteed to see only about 25 hands more.

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

Yeah, but the other table is 6 handed for the moment, so everything is still equal. Your talking a difference of $1000 + between where you are now and where you could end up based on chip count (again, all things being equal). Someone's going to bust out soon, buying you even more time. Easy fold for me, I'm waiting for a better spot when I can be the aggressor.

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

Easy call. The raiser doesn't have AA or KK. If he has a pair or AK, you are about even with pot odds. Otherwise, he probably has Ax or Kx, which makes you about a 3-1 favorite. Plus it's to your advantage to gamble to try to pick up up that 7400 1st prize. If you win the hand, you are the chip leader, you can use your stack to intimidate, and you probably finish in the big monay top 3 places.

I don't know why there are so many posts about whether to fold AK to an open push. Except in a satellite, I can't see any situation where that would be a good play.

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

[ QUOTE ]
Easy call.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree under most circumstances. Baring an unusual play and a spectacular read on this player you are most likely against a small pp or possibly a weaker ace. I lean toward a call here to push you into contention for a win instead of simply limping into a slightly higher money spot.

The logic that the smaller stacks will go out first, all things being even, is flawed. You are infact a small stack with just over 5xBB remaining in your stack. They are not simply going to wait around to get blinded down, they are going to act on thier hands that promise to be at least a coinflip and possibly a 2:1 and so should you. Limping into a slightly higher money spot is a terrible way to play tournaments. With just 5xBB left in my stack at a 6 player table I'm begrudgingly taking a stand with AK. Its not the ideal situation but its the best you are likely to see before you are blinded to death.

The only time I might lay down this hand in this situation is if I am confident that I can move allin on the next few hands regardless of the cards and take some blinds down quickly (i.e. the table is playing terrified poker) and I truely believe this player may have AA or KK. These two circumstances will almost never occure at the same table, however, because at a table playing weak scared poker the chip leader will undoubtably be applying great preasure with a great number of hands.

-Brad

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

So, there is 255K in the pot, and it takes your last 210K to call. You are getting roughly 13 to 11 odds.

AKo is 11-9 dog to QQ-22, 2.3 to 1 dog to KK, 11.5 to 1 dog to AA, 11-10 dog to AKs, Even v. AKo, and 2.3/3 to 1 favorite over smaller aces.

66 small pairs possible
3 KK hands possible
3 AA hands possible
2 AKs hands possible
9 AKo hands possible
36 AQ-AT hands possible (12 more for A9, etc)

Given the guy is tight, I don't think the pot odds create the overlay you need to call your bottom chip here. Not when the gap concept will let you steal some blinds the very next hand.

PS My hunch tells me the guy has AK, suited or off, and you would split the pot.

Re: In the BB with AKo late in tourney
 

I think it is likely the opponent has AK. AQ, AJs, QQ, JJ, or TT are also likely candidates. If the bif stack was playing looser, there would be a lot more possibilities.