AKo on the button in first live tourney

Hey guys. I've been lurking for a while now and i really enjoy reading the advice in this forum. This is my first post - be nice [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Playing at a local casino for the first time in a $20+2 freezeout. We are down to two tables left from five, and there are nine people sat at mine. Those who reach the final table get cash, with 9th getting his/her money back, first is about ~$600. Blinds are at T800 - T1600, and its a fast structure that keeps doubling every half an hour.

UTG+1 raises to T4800 and it folds to CO who thinks for a while then calls. I have roughly T20000 in front of me and am one of the chip leaders on the table. UTG+1 had a similar amount to me, and CO had about T16000 before this hand.

Reads: Both of the players are fairly sound players, they have played less hands than most of the table. I have a feeling that when CO was thinking he had a medium PP {JJ, 1010, 99} or AK, becasue he took a while to decide wether to call, or raise/go all in. From his body language i don't think he was going to fold. UTG+1's range is slightly larger, probably {AQ+ , 88+}.
Hero is percieved as tight agressive

Hero holds AKo on the button?

thoughts welcome, results to follow

Eggpie

push or call...you are in position and no re-raise probably tells you your reads are correct. I think if you run into AA or KK here then they played it well. Personally I push here.

call>push>min raise

min raise not really an option since this pot commits you and having position makes a stop n go a little difficult if you miss flop. I call. Floundering between that and push. Your reasoning for CO should include the possibility of AQ also.

I actually called - both blinds folded - and the flop came down with 7xx rainbow. UTG+1 bet about T5000 and got a slow call from CO. i folded, and the next card came a K which forced them both to check it down till the end. UTG+1 had 1010 and CO had 99.
I don't think calling is bad, but after this hand i thought about some more, and i think all-in preflop is better for 2 reasons
1) i have more fold equity preflop
2) i get to see all 5 cards if i went all in
As it was i lost 1/4 of my stack and fell to an M of 6 1/2 ish.

thoughts?

Eggpie

1) I don't think you have much FE, some, but not much unless you think squeeze play may get 2 folds and that is always possible. I just would not count on FE when both have approx 1/3 of their stack already in the pot.
2) Had K not fallen on turn, would you still be asking if push was proper call so you could see all 5 cards?

I don't see anything wrong with a push here, just try not to think of thing based on the results. If a K had not fallen on turn would you have still posted this? If a 9 or 10 had fallen on the flop, would you even have posted this? Just pointing out that you have to stay away from results oriented thinking.

Your call and flop fold was not bad play. A push is not bad play. Given the same situation 10 times I probably, call 6 or 7 times and push 3 or 4 times.

I was wondering what your appearance at the table was. If it was tight then I would have pushed here and not really cared whether I got a call here. If you put initial raiser on something between AQ-88 then if he has something like AQ and calls then it would be very difficult for the CO to call with his mid-pair with this kind of action. If you push here, I dont see how inital raiser can call her unless he has QQ or better. You then get a call from the CO which is for 16 000 - 4800 = 11 200. But if you think about it this way then u were going to at least call so there is 4 800x 3 + 800 + 1600 = 16 800. So you are risking another 11 200 to win 16800, I like those odds if I know im not against KK or AA. You said that both of these players are solid so FE is probably very small, but your chances of winning this hand v Pot-odds seems 2 b right(45/55) v (33/66) respectively. If you call, what you are looking for is that the initial raiser to have AQ or AJ (or the CO having the same) and A hitting without another paint card that isnt ur K and then u still dont know if the other player hit his set and the bet/call on the flop will essentially pot-commit u for the whole hand anyways.
I like the push because if you win this hand, this will put you in a comfortable position to at least make the final table and make it further in the tournament. I think that the blinds are going to eat you up to soon, not to push here and take your chances with your coin-flip. Your M is less than 10 already so I like the push.

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1) I don't think you have much FE, some, but not much unless you think squeeze play may get 2 folds and that is always possible. I just would not count on FE when both have approx 1/3 of their stack already in the pot.
2) Had K not fallen on turn, would you still be asking if push was proper call so you could see all 5 cards?

I don't see anything wrong with a push here, just try not to think of thing based on the results. If a K had not fallen on turn would you have still posted this? If a 9 or 10 had fallen on the flop, would you even have posted this? Just pointing out that you have to stay away from results oriented thinking.

Your call and flop fold was not bad play. A push is not bad play. Given the same situation 10 times I probably, call 6 or 7 times and push 3 or 4 times.

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Given your accurate reads, I like your call/fold line. You only had 6 outs to beat the pp, who had 4 outs (collectively) to make a set. Good read, and you're still in the game.