Back-to-back Aces on the satellite bubble?

DownLow · #1 10-21-2004, 08:34 PM

PokerStars $3+rebuy satellite to $650 WPT qualifying tourney. Top 2 players get a seat, third place gets a little more than $400. Final table, 8 players left. I am the short stack, outchipped many times by most of my opps. First hand back from break (9th place went out the hand before the break):
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

MP1 (t78439)
MP2 (t117760)
Hero (t16920)
Button (t58179)
SB (t47472)
BB (t387241)
UTG (t143909)
UTG+1 (t90080)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls t3000, MP2 folds, Hero raises to t16770, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, MP1 calls t13770.

Flop: (t34590) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t34590) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t34590) 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t34590

Results in white below: 
MP1 has Th Kc (one pair, jacks).
Hero has As Ac (two pair, aces and jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins t34590. 

And then this happened the next hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t3000 (8 handed) converter

saw flop|saw showdown

UTG+1 (t61519)
MP1 (t117610)
Hero (t39240)
CO (t58029)
Button (t45822)
SB (t384091)
BB (t143759)
UTG (t89930)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t6000, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, Hero raises to t39090, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls t33090.

Flop: (t79080) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

Turn: (t79080) 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)

River: (t79080) 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)

Final Pot: t79080

Results in white below: 
UTG has 9h 9s (full house, nines full of twos).
Hero has Ac Ah (two pair, aces and twos).
Outcome: UTG wins t79080. 

My question is, is it correct to have pushed with the second hand?

I think the first hand is clear, I was quite short stacked and needed the chips just to survive. However, after doubling up the first time I have some more chips and I'm not quite as desperate. UTG made a min raise, should I have coldcalled it or done a moderate reraise over the top rather than pushing?

I don't want to be results oriented and don't want this to be a bad beat post, I just want some opinions on the risk vs. reward of this move. With only the top 3 spots paying (and only 2 paying the actual tourney seat) I probably needed more chips that I had after the first hand to money.

Just some background on the atmosphere, I had been getting poor cards throughout the tournament and managed to get to this point by playing extremely tight and getting doubled up on the few premium hands I had been dealt. I was a little concerned I might not see another hand before being blinded out. The big stacks were playing quite aggressively and with my stack size I felt I needed premium cards to play a hand. Most of the time my blinds were being bought by bets that would put me all in.

I realize that my goal is to get my chips into the middle when I have the best of it but I can't help but to think that if I had played the hand a little more slowly I might have been able to get away from it, although I have been known to get too emotionally attached to my aces.

I feel like I overplayed this hand in my haste to make a run for the finish. Please let me know how you would play these hands in this situation.