Playing AKs for all my chips...tough call, need feedback

The other day I was playing in a small nl tourney with about 15 people I know with about a hundred bucks at stake. We were five handed and I was second in chips by a long shot. I was delt AKs and I was the big blind. The chip leader (who I had never played against) made a raise that was double the big blind out of position. Keep in mind that I have watched the chip leader call several big rasies with bad cards so far in the tourney. I came back over the top and tripled his bet. He then put me all in. Together we had at least 75 percent of the chips in play, so it was the biggest hand of the tourney. After agonizing for a few mintues, I couldn't get away from my hand and I called. He flipped over pocket aces . Just like that I was out in 5th place, when I was far and away 2nd in chips going into the hand(and not far from the chip lead). At first I felt like this was a good call and I got unlucky that he had pocket aces. But the more that I think about it, I feel like a better player could have layed down the AKs even though they had dumped a lot of money into the pot. Wouldn't I have been wrong to want to play my AKs for all my chips in a race situation (which is what I was hoping for) anyway in that point in the tourney? This hand has just bugged me for the past few days, and I need some feedback. I feel like I can learn from this decision and get better. Was this just a bad play from an inexperienced player like I think?

It really depends on so many factors. Most important is the player. Would he push with AQ. I know that most big stacks may call an all-in with AQ, but would probably never initiate unless they had a made hand (probably QQ or better).

A small stack is ready to take risks, though if the blinds have reached the point where it is threatening their survival. Against a small stack this push would have been correct. Against a big stack who may also be a tight plr, you are probably wrong in calling his all-in.

Originally Posted by DimitriT

It really depends on so many factors. Most important is the player. Would he push with AQ. I know that most big stacks may call an all-in with AQ, but would probably never initiate unless they had a made hand (probably QQ or better).

With a big chip lead, many will go into this reverse gap theory mentality. They'll call big bets from small stacks with marginal holdings, and only push with big hands. To me that's a good way to play a high stack.

I think anyone playing against a high stack should keep this in mind when calling a big show of strength from a high stack.

Originally Posted by tarheel42000

Keep in mind that I have watched the chip leader call several big rasies with bad cards so far in the tourney.

Was he calling the big raises with a high stack against lower stacks? Was he gambling early on to build a high stack so he could eventually go into high stack mode? You can bet that late in a tourney against the only guy that could cripple him, he's not pushing all his chips into the middle with marginal cards.

If I'm chip leader I'll often play a few small hands loose if I think I can get someone to call a big bet down the line, and I'll especialy play them against the smaller stacks... though I'm not sure if it's similar to how you mentioned him playing.

Regardless, All in with AK when second in chips is clearly not worth it for the reasons others have given above.