Where do you draw the line on PP

At what PP are you willing to call an all in on the first hand of a major tournament?

My rule on calling any All-In is simple, only do it if i am either 99% sure i'm ahead or that i have a massive chance outdrawing a hand i know my opponant is holding.

e.g. I have AK and i know my opponant (Played with him/her enough to have a read on him/her) likes to go all-in on the BB with any ACE but slow plays pocket pair slowly.

If I can get a huge amount of chips by doing so (more than one player calls my all in), I would say either Pocket Kings or Aces, preferably Pocket Aces.

First hand of a tournament? I am assuming preflop.

In a tournament I think you have to take advantage of every situation where you are ahead. Therefore, I would say AA or KK (possibly) just for the simple fact that I want to be ahead in the hand if I am going to do it.

Sounds boring but I think that is the only safe calls there until you know the table better.

If you face a coin toss 3 time in a tournament, what are your chances of winning all 3? About 13%. Early on in tournaments, this is just the kind of situation you want to avoid. Unless you've got AA-QQ, I wouldn't go up against more than one caller.

A ring game is a different story. Always go with the odds.

Depends on the speed of the tournament. With slower speed tournaments I'm more willing to wait before going all in. But in turbos, with the blinds increasing every 5 minutes (and sometimes faster!) you have work a bit faster and be ready to go all-in with something less than AA, KK or AK.

One more thing about AK. Unless you're falling behind and need to make a move this is a terrible hand to call an all-in with, suited or un. Most likely you're up against a pair of some sort in which case you're the underdog in a coin toss. Worst case, you're up against AA,or KK in which case you're practically drawing dead out of the gate. So when you call an all-in with this hand, what you're really hoping for is the least likely outcome. AQ through AT. It's possible, but not good tournament strategy.

AA maybe, depends on # of callers, how I have been playing leading up to tourney. I don't normally have any problem laying down big PP very early in tourneys. Played in too many 9 & 10 seat SNG's where 3 or 4 go all in first hand & winner does not even finish in money.

i'm assuming the type of tourney you're playing is pretty loose if there's an all-in 1st hand, especially pre-flop
i guess it'd have to be AA-QQ HU or probably just Aces if theres more than one opponent who's pushed

I've actually tightened WAAY up now the past few days and have seen a HUGE improvement in my game. I've actually thrown away 22 - 66 in ring games in the face of a raise, and in tournements the same way. No use going into the flop ahead to three or 4 people EACH with a 5:6 shot at pairing the board by the river to beat your 2s ... especially in a raised pot where there is sure to be A rag or better.

only place i'd play 22 is with 4 limpers in front of me or more, and i'd prolly minraise there to get my money's worth out of the chance of hitting my set

This is a hypothetical question..

Well then hypothetically if i were to have a person push into me in a tournament then i'd classify the tournament as pretty loose... i guess it'd have to be AA-QQ HU or probably just Aces if theres more than one opponent who's pushed