KA dilemma

[Thunder]

You're sitting in a MTT - any MTT though the one I was in was a winner takes all with 9 runner up positions - and I had doubled up to 3000. The game was about 15 mins old.

An opponent, directly on my right, had been been sucked out on and was left with just over 450 chips and so, in MP, went all in a few hands later. I look down and see AK soooooted. My first instinct was to call as he may be tilting and it's an event to gather chips but then I wondered what's the point of risking a large portion of my stack when it isn't necessary. If he has Ax then I'm 70/30 but could be as low as 60/40 or 50/50.

What would you recommend - regardless of the MTT type - when holding KA against a short stacked opponent.

[donkbee]

You should probably be reraising to isolate him.

[drmcboy]

you need to give us the blinds, other stack sizes left to act, and your position. In general I'd go ahead and gamble because people tend to spew off chips after they lose most of their stack.

[Thunder]

Tx,

I didn't have the blinds etc as it happened a few days ago. I just wondered about the play in general. It was a massive raise in relation to the blinds - which wouldn't be beyond 25/50 and had he had KK that held up then I could look pretty sheepish for getting needlessly involved.

At 50/100 I'd be calling as I'd be happy to raise 450 with KA anyhoo. But at 25/50.......

[donkbee]

Just because you would raise a certain amount with a hand, it doesn't mean you should be calling that same amount when someone else raises it.

[drmcboy]

Based on your posts it seems like you're over emphasizing your hand and not thinking enough about the situation.

[Thunder]

Maybe I am - though I like to think I am not.

My thinking here is "is calling just 'cos i have a big ace" level one/fishy play? Should I not be getting involved especially as there are a few to act behind me and I haven't committed any money to the pot? Even if he tossed in with Q4o he can still spike 40% of the time.


With this guy in particular, he had waited a few hands so my guess is he waited til he had an ace, a pocket pair, suited connectors J10+ or any 2 broadways.

Perhaps I am over thinking but in the end game of satellite play, you will often fold big hands when there's no need to get involved and I am wondering if this is somewhat similar - ie: forget about your cards and look more at the situation. And, at the end of the day, KA isn;t a made hand. Advice appreciated.

[Ghaleon]

You just doubled up 15 mins into a game, so even if you lose, you'll still have 2500 chips and an M over 30.

Your last post suggests something about the "endgame of satellite play". You're only 15 minutes into this thing so you're pretty far from the 'endgame'.

You're right, forget about the cards and look at the situation. the situation is this

1) Your opponent is short stacked
2) You have a huge stack
3) You have one of the top 5 starting hands in hold 'em
4) You're most likely a favorite to win the hand, and at worst a coin flip.

raise to isolate. If you lose, you're still in pretty good shape. if you win, you're in great shape.

HOH vol 2 recommends calling here with ANY TWO CARDS if your stack is more than 10x the short stack. Here you have just over 6 times his stack, but you're hand is pretty good.