Should I have thrown AK in this spot no matter what?

[betgo]

With deeper money you don't want to get into a pot with the large stack, where he may force you to give up the hand on later streets.

This is a perfect opportunity to play AK as it is meant to be played with a reraise allin.

Yes, you may get knocked out of the tournament, but you can't worry about that. You want a coin flip with the big stack (and this is likely to be better than a coin flip). If you win this hand, you will have a huge lead over everyone else and and excellent chance to win the tournament. In any case, you should finish in one of the top three big money places.

[dogmeat]

If I get a chance to do the first raise with AK, then I do. I don't want to call a large raise with a drawing hand, and I don't want to tangle with the biggest stack in the tournament where I am just calling. I might (10% of the time) raise all in with this, but otherwise I think you can safely muck this and look for a better spot.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[betgo]

All you people who would fold AK to a single raise, what would you need to reraise or call? Would you call with QQ?

If I were the big stack, I would raise all the time with opponents like you. How many times is someone going to have AA, KK, or QQ.

I play tournaments to win, not to avoid being busted out.

[gergery]

[ QUOTE ]
All you people who would fold AK to a single raise, what would you need to reraise or call? Would you call with QQ?

If I were the big stack, I would raise all the time with opponents like you. How many times is someone going to have AA, KK, or QQ.

I play tournaments to win, not to avoid being busted out.

[/ QUOTE ]

I play tournaments to maximize my EV, the weighted overall assessment to maximize my $ earned. Winning is only part of it. And how your opponents play has already been noted as a factor in the decision. Getting your money in as a likely slight favorite when losing means you go from 2nd to 6th is not necessarily good poker. Again, it depends.

[Hold em 888]

Thanks for all your resposes guys. This hand has been haunting me for a couple days now, and it's nice to see both sides of the argument, clarifying that, if nothing else, it was a tough spot with a big decision.

Betgo - I'm not saying that i'm afraid to tangle with the chip-leader. At any other point in the tournament (save the bubble in a major tourny, perhaps) i would gladly welcome the action from a taller stack when holding AK. Just that in that exact spot, i could have easily folded and been no worse for ware. Had the chips at the final table been more evenly distributed, i'd of played the hand with no hesitation, but the current chip standings had 4 guys under 100,000 with a 30,000 BB. Only because it would have been so easy to make top 5, therefore earning an extra $250 (at least), do i think this might have been the right move. But believe me, i know that the right move was to go all-in there as opposed to call, but i still think i'll fold AK if i ever find myself in that exact same spot again.

And to the person who asked (sorry, I don't remember which post it was), this hand was the first and last that i'd played with this guy all tournament, so I had no prior info to work with.

[Tommy R]

"I play tournaments to maximize my EV"

Do you mean hand by hand expected value or giving yourself the best chance to win the tournament? In tournament play they are not the same thing. For example, with 55 vs. A K you are a slight favourite 54 % vs 46%, so it is +EV to go all in. However, would you risk your entire stack on this bet if you know you are one of the better players? If your answer is yes you should read up on tournament theory. You should wait for more favourable situations.

By the way this post has nothing to do with this particular hand its more about the theory of EV that has been used throughout the replies. But it does beg the question – is the poster the best player on the table? If so you would seriously consider folding. If not then I would consider raising all-in pre-flop.

[Hold em 888]

[ QUOTE ]
"By the way this post has nothing to do with this particular hand its more about the theory of EV that has been used throughout the replies. But it does beg the question – is the poster the best player on the table? If so you would seriously consider folding. If not then I would consider raising all-in pre-flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a great point Tommy, as we all know Sklansky's advice (weaker players can remove a better player's edge by moving in pre-flop a lot), but this advice can easily be countered given the buy-in of the tournament. I may be a formidable tournament player ( may ), but i'll not claim to be the best at any final table. This being said, my bankroll is not exacly that big (its up, but not much). Therefore, since I'm not the best player, and since I'm not too rich, I'd probably be rather wise to let a few of the shorter stacks bust out (2 went in the next few hands after I did) before i bothered with any big gambles. I feel very strongly that had I not played the hand I would have had nearly as good of a chance to win the tournament as if I had played and won the hand. Note that I said the buy-in of the event is what allows this situation to exist. In a larger event, everyone at the final table stands to make a lot of money, so at that point you are definetly playing to win. I feel not many of you will not agree with this concept, but I feel it deserves to be brought up, as it proposes that a player trying to make the most money possible and a player aimed solely at winning the tournament can approach similar situations quite differently from one another.