Should I Race with AK?

So I got into a hand in 250 freeroll, that I was fine with the decision I made, but was wondering if anybody had any other opinion on the matter.

Blinds are 150/300 with a 25 ante, and I'm in shove/fold mode. There were 63 players left in tourney, and I have a stack of 5k+.
I am 2nd to act pre flop with AKo. The guy UTG with a stack of 11k+ raises to 1500 or 5x the BB.
Due to having AKo, I am certain this guy is raising with QQ or less. I decide to shove over the top, knowing if I get called I'm probably racing (unless it's a donkey) or he will lay the hand down because it will be 50% off his stack.
He calls and reveals QQ, and I bust out.

I knew highly likely that I was probably in a coin flip situation. So is that such a bad gamble? The potential double up was too much for me to pass up.

Had you been keeping track of the range of UTG raises from this player? In most circumstances you would be more than happy to get it all in against anyone with >10bb's while holding AK. If the UTG player was a super nit then it cold be a fold, but otherwise you just got unlucky there. No worries.

Good advice.

Unless the guy was a complete nit his range could have included a lot of hand you would have had dominated. A9+ especially in a freeroll. With that stack size you need chips and have to make a move at some point soon.

If you played against me today AK is great. Today i had KK and AA cracked by AK in back to back sng's.

Not a bad shove buddy, but u coulda peeled a flop off and been left with over 10 big blinds if you miss, i cant hate the shove, because lkike you said you know no matter what u didnt feel like he had kings or aces, so nice move, and what else can ya do
Hope that helps!
TTYL

I'm not fond of just calling pre-flop. It depends somewhat on the table size, but you're second to act, so no one is out of the hand yet. The presumption of a coin flip situation is based on only one opponent, but calling gives the rest of the table better pot odds to stay in. Shoving is fine. I doubt I'd fold, but that also seems preferable to calling.

If somebody's VPIP > 30 I definitely call/RR. (as long as I have them stacked)
If somebody's VPIP < 10 I definitely fold. (well unless they are short)
If somebody's VPIP is between 10 and 30, I look at their stack size and recent actions, but probably gonna call as long as I can't get knocked out.

Surely another factor to consider of the stack sizes of the other players left at the table? If there are several other players with stack sizes similar or slightly smaller than you who are in good positions for you to steal blinds from then maybe consider folding depending on the raiser's PRF. I guess my thinking is that you want to be going up against similar size stacks to yourself and avoid the big stacks where possible? But then I guess it's AK so I probably would have shoved too.

A few things to consider, Position Position Position (UG+1), are you willing to put your tournament success on a coin flip, if in fact your player range is correct and several other players may or may not call. Could there be better spots against other players were Fold Equity would be greater factor.

Situational awareness and table dynamics are just a few of the factors to take in account.

shoving AK in shove/fold position = good move.

Good read, good shove, And you had a double up hand. You did nothing wrong. Only thing Is that you DID have enough chips to keep playing and find better spots. You were UTG+1 and still had the table to act behind you. This many players never take into account. We are accustomed to thinking ok UTG Raise, I shove, everyone else is going to fold.

A call here is bad because it would be a big chunk of your stack so shove/fold was correct play here. I think you could have let the hand go tho and wating for a better spot, but in the end not a bad play at all.

How are you certain he has a pair? This is a freeroll so the standard of play is going to be shocking. Even not taking that into account we surely we have to put perhaps A9+ in his range at the very least in which case we have well over 50% equity against his range of hands so this is an easy all in. To win a tourney you have to come out on top in a few races so I'm just going in every single time.

Also how do people think we would even know he is a nit? This is a freeroll with a massive field so we have most likely just joined a table with him and have absolutely no way of knowing his range so we are playing against an average range at this level which AK probably has about 60-65% equity. Anyone who folds this hands probably should never touch MTT.

I disagree. I have folded AK plenty of times in MTTs and even as High as QQ at times... And still cash. You have to look for good spots in MTTs as well, when it gets to the point when the blinds are really high, players play worse than normal. Yes you need to gamble, and try and keep the blidns from getting you. But many players never know what spots to choose, and what spots are the best to exploit and so on and so forth.

Folding queens is never good except for some spots in a satellite. you're tournament equity massively increases as we climb up the rankings in a MTT. I don't think its ever good to turn down a double up with AK or QQ as sometimes we are in a race and sometimes we dominate which means we overall get well over 60% equity. The only spot I might lay down AK in a non-satellite event is when me and the chip leader have a massive lead over everyone and he shoves with 7 or so players remaining as there's no point taking a race as I could well end up losing tourney equity in that scenario. I've certianly not layed it down plenty of times like you say.

The less you are at risk going all in during an MTT the better chance you have to winning. Put yourself at risk and varience takes over I just feel if you can avoid commiting your Tourney life at any give point it is better. The more you risk your T-Life the more chances you give yourself to be busted ( not counting RB/AO games) in cash you can rebuy as often as you like ( or how ever ofter your BR will alow) but in tourneys they are a 1 and done situation. Is it really worth risking you T-Life if a donk desides shoving ATC every hand is worth calling an all in with AK? Play enough and you will learn its best to let ofthers try and take out all in players, Unless you are calling with AA and KK ( QQ maybe yes i say maybe) I may be a nit or a rock in MTTs but this type of play has gotten me deep in tourneys. Again once the blinds get to less than 10BB then start looking at when the cash is and see is it worth riskying a bust on a coin flip. I rather fold and pick spots to steal than risk my whole T-life on a AK draw. ( essentially that i what you are doing) But it was a free roll so A9+ is a def shove donky range.

So all in all it was not a bad play, but OP busted out and did it with flash I prefer to be the shover than the caller.

Are you talking live or online? If we are playing online I see no reason why we aren't calling a donk shoving ATC with AK, we have alot of equity against him and generally online we aren't as well stacked and the blind structures are quite quick. Also online I'm generally playing at least 3 tourneys and if I bust out of one then I just fire up another one. Live its maybe a fold as we are deep enough stacked to not need to take a marginal spot and we can't just fire up another one when we bust.

I'm somebody who has ran deep in a fair few tourneys and in terms of tourney ev it is well worth the risk. I've played more than enough to know that I'm not laying down AK in most spots as the ev you gain from being able to arrive around the money/ft bubble as a deepstack is well worth the risk of going bust. Poker is a game of maths and maths would dictate that it is very rarely a good decision to lay down AK.

Online

This isn't true. While it has become trendy for big pros on Twitter to talk about the times they are at risk in deepstack tournaments ("Made it to dinner break on Day 3, 1.2 million, haven't been at risk."), you need to win a ton of big pots to win. Folding edges in huge pots is probably always a mistake and the deeper you get, the bigger the mistake is usually (when you have antes in play).

"Anna Kournikova" imo
"AK just a drawing hand"
"22 > AK"

ez peezy folding this all day long... I wanna get a min. cash with a 3bb stack, then I'm gonna make a run at goin' to the top!

Good spot to shove for sure! (never folding this here ever... doubt villain 5x's it w AA/KK & even less likely as we're holding an Ace & a King)

Heads up it is, we're not talking about heads up though we're talking about a MTT. AK is the better hand because we have hands like Ax crushed whereas 22 is not in great shape and in real danger against 2 or more. AKev>22ev.

your irony detector is turned off, BN.

Playing in my live league the other night I had AKs and hit a board like 5J8 and I get 2 raises (from people who are happy with one face card) so I was about to call and had to think, and finally one of the better players at the table goes. BIG SLICK is just two cards if you missed. BAM LIGHTS ON - FOLD. So why are you telling us this. I dunno, just seemed revelant to the thread

Who ever said avoiding the all in, has it together. I try real hard to do this but DAMN sometimes I cant resist and I dont know I dont get the satisfaction of sucking out people that others do. OK sometimes I do, esp if PO is on the receiving end.

I'd have shoved here, AK is a good hand. He could have had AQ orAJ, if he has a pair it is a race, you have to get lucky to win a tournament. AK is a great hand to get lucky with

I did used to have anemia.

Well why race when you can choose better spots In tourneys its more about winning a ton of small pots Daniel Negruano FTW XD

lol

Since everyone loves poker stories, here's mine.

Of course I wrestled with this dilemma, as does every other player.

I distinctly remember a tournament a few years ago where I had a big stack, was playing like rock-tight. I raise AK in EP, I look at my HUD and I've been running 6-6 at this table over 50 hands. Another guy who had been playing tight with a pretty big stack, like 50 BBs, shoves from CO. I tanked, and called. He had ATs, the flop came KK3.

I was wondering if I should have folded or not.

Same table, maybe 15 hands later, I have not played a single hand since the AK-AT, I get AK again, UTG. I raise, someone 3-bets to like 10 BBs from MP, I think a bit, shove. He tanks, calls with AQ.

It'd be nice to end this story by saying these two big wins led me to take down the tournament. In a way, it did. I lost an 80-20 later on (I think it was QQ vs. TT) for a huge pot, was down to 1 BB -- and came back to win it.

cliffs:
1. You pretty much have to call with AK if you can put AQ in his range, or small pairs.
2. People you think are tight sometimes lose their minds after folding 40 straight hands.
3. If you are obviously tight, sometimes people will try to get you to fold.

no. most tournaments are not deepstacked like the ones you see on TV. winning small pots is about stealing and making semibluffs on the flop. you can't do this in most tournaments. it also presumes you have a large skill advantage. you probably don't.

tournaments are about making top pair and getting paid.

p.s. games are definitely way more aggressive now than they were then, and people bluff-raise a lot more.

Negreanu can play like that because he is a brilliant post-flop player who plays in deep-stacked tournaments and has an excellent read. I don't bother playing a ton of pots, i just look for a double up pot. Online at lower BI tournaments you may as well piss money away as play smallball.

I guess xD

yea i totally agree. i tend to play $3 or $5 rebuys MTTs. When I try not to flip, what often seems to happen is I end up at the showdown with 3 other people.

you were shortstacked there, so you had no way you could fold that hand even with chances of aa and kk,
good move not bad,
he could have had aq aj too

Soemtimes I fold crap when I get raised before my action. Go on feelings sometimes, sometimes i am wrong, but i feel ok with waiting it out for a better oppurtunity when I open the pot. But you were short stack so I understand the move. But if you put him on a made hand already, gotta let it go and hope you get something else playable. But no right or wrong play there, only bad play would be to smooth call.

I'm suprised this thread is still going on, but thanks for the info. But some good points were brought up. Definitely playing in tourneys like the free roll I was talking about is frustrating because you're shortstacked the whole way, which means you have really no option but to play longball tactics. Which I am used to, but always is nervewracking.