To all-in or not to all-in

[Bloopie]

Simple question, really.

You're playing a a 10 or 12 player sit & go, you're 1 or 2 positions away from the money, and you get pocket 4's, 5's, 6's or 7's... you have a decent amount of chips but you could really use to double up.
Some guy who is in trouble goes all-in and you put him on AK/AQ/AJ.
It's about a 50-50. Do you go all-in?

I usually do, and lose big time, whether i'm the AK/AQ/AJ or the pocket pairs... but can you really lay down such a hand?

[Bloopie]

I just lost several all-ins in a row...
AJ vs. 66, 44 vs. JQ and then KQ vs. A8.

I'm starting to think that there's no point going all-in in these STG, and the better tactic would be to not go all-in unless you have a monster hand on the flop/turn/river, at least until you're in the money..

[taipan168]

...that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

Kind of appropriate really!

To answer your question, you really need to post the whole hand since stack sizes are very important.

However, in a sit 'n' go, you need to take account of the ICM effect when comparing your pot odds to your likely equity. Here is a reasonable explanation of ICM and why it is important - but in summary if you lose one chip, it is worth more to you than if you win one chip. Because of this, if you are equal stacked with opp or if he/she has you covered and there are not a lot of dead chips in the pot, it is generally a bad idea to take even the right end of a flip, you need better than that to make the call good.

Hope that helps - and post the specific hands to give us some material to work with!

[bjsaust]

Post some examples.

[JeffreyGB]

Examples are good, but it takes a pretty extreme situation for me to call all-in with a low pocket pair. Fold Equity is just too powerful to miss out by not being the one to shove the chips in.

[Stacks]

I agree with the others in that it really is way more beneficial to post entire hands than a general question. Poker is so much more than "what are my cards???". You have to account for stack sizes, position, image (not so much at low levels, but somewhat), tourney type, etc etc etc. We just aren't getting enough information with what you posted.

However, a few things I noticed that I can comment on.

1) You say a small stack is open shoving, yet you put him on AJ+? I don't really think this is a reasonable range, but it does depend on his stack size. The smaller his stack the wider he is going to be shoving, as well as his position at the table. If he is shoving UTG with around 8-10bb, I would put him on a similiar range with PPs such as 88+ thrown in.

But if he is open shoving from CO/BU it's a totally different ballgame, because depending on his stack his shove can be fairly wide, including many lower aces, broadway hands, and smaller pps. This is essentally because he has fewer people left to act, so fewer chances of they having a big hand, and depending on his stack size, his need for the chips changes his willingness to gamble.

2) You are overlooking the power of fold equity, as Jeffrey said
There is such a thing as the "Gap Concept". Basically, it means you need a better hand to call a raise, than to make a raise. The reason is quite simple. When you call a raise/bet, someone has already said I have a good hand, and you are calling his "good" hand. But when you make one, noone else at the table has yet said they had a hand, plus they will be thinking that you have a good hand.

So it is better to be the one pushing the lower pp, than it is to call a push with the pp. Reason is when you call a shove, you must be capable of showing down the winning hand. But when you make a raise, you have the added benefit of possibly taking the hand uncontested when the opponents fold.

3) Don't be so eager to flip
I've seen 2 or so posts by you so far saying something to the effect of "I've lost so many flips lately". You go on to provide hands that are mostly either a) flips that you are behind in or b) hands that aren't flips and you are chasing in. Remember, while they are called flips someone in ahead generally [a pp is slighty better than 50% to win against overcards].

Yes, there will be times when you are flipping in a tourney and there will even be times when you are behind and have to hit, but hopefully those are limited to a few as possible. Now this doesn't mean don't gamble when you have to, but don't be eager to do it (generally).

For instance, in the example you provided you "know" the guy has overcards to your small pp. He shoves, and the action is on you. I wouldn't rejoice knowing it's a flip. It's not to say I wouldn't take the flip given some circumstances (relative stacks sizes are key), but I would obviously want a better than flip situation.

Small PPs can be tricky to play in later rounds of SNGs, because while they are a favorite against most hands that margin is rather small, and you have to weigh whether you take that small advantage against factors such as how the chips to be won will help your currect stack or the state of the tourney.

BTW, did you run a similiar hand through SNG wiz? What did it say?

Hope that helps, and sorry for it being long, but it was either write this or study for my exams. Guess which I would rather do!

XxStacksxX

[Stacks]

I'm starting to think that there's no point going all-in in these STG, and the better tactic would be to not go all-in unless you have a monster hand on the flop/turn/river, at least until you're in the money..

Yeah.... Not gonna happen. You are going to have to eventually go all-in in most of your SNGs, unless you are running good. Yes, it would be ideal to amass a big stack at the beginning of every SNG and just push people around while never having to go all-in yourself. However, that is generally not gonna happen unless you pick up the cards in the beginning. Because if your not getting the good cards, but are playing Tight early on as suggested, then you will get to the higher blind levels without tons of chips. Without getting any hands that is around 1200-1300 chips when entering 50/100 blinds on PS.

That means you have around 12-13 blinds (assuming you didn't play a hand), and that is pretty close to push/fold poker. So you will be going all-in. The key is pushing in favorable spots, which doesn't mean just with favorable cards. While everyone would love to shove with AA here, there will be times when you will shove with ATC, and you can't be afraid to bust, because if you are you will make a wrong play and lose ev. So first make sure you are playing within your bankroll, so you can stand loses. And second learn when those favorable spots arise (one common factor besides cards is putting the pressure on the opponent. i.e. you being the aggressor and shoving.)

Uhhhh... Yeah i still wasn't ready to study, but I am now.

Good luck.

[TLR]

You cant really put villian on AK/AQ/AJ and dismiss mid to high PP, since you are either flipping or dominated genreally speaking you are better off folding, however as others said, post some specific hands

[DJJunkPauds]

*grunching*

If someone goes all in, and you think they have AK/AQ/AJ, then they actually have AJ+/QQ+, and to be honest, the sort of all in that includes AJ, probably also includes TT (I'd say 88+ as well, but lets be optimistic), so really his range is TT+/AJ, and your equity is actually more like 40% with 66. You need about Jacks to call it even.