My friend and I have recently had a little bit of a debate. He says there is no time ever where you should fold aces pre flop no matter what while I say if you make it to the bubble at any major tournament and you're facing a couple all ins and you're short stacked it would be acceptable to fold. Does anyone have any insight to this debate? It would be very helpful into settling a little disagreement. Thanks.
Very rarely would I fold AA preflop.
1) in a satellite MTT where you're GTD a seat already.
If you're guaranteed a seat, meaning you don't have to play anymore hands near the bubble and can wait it out, it's fine to fold instead of risking it. Lets say there are 15 players left and 14 get tickets to a bigger game. You don't want to call all-ins and risk busting out if you're in a good position to win a seat in the next game. Since the pay out is equal, winning with AA doesn't not have extra value and you don't earn extra
equity.
2) At a final table where there are significant money jumps.
Rare situation, but if I'm short stacked at a final table and I see 3-4 all-ins before me, I'll fold because moving up the pay ladder has more value. At this point, it's about the profit and not necessarily winning individual hands. Especially if I'm so short that doubling/tripling up wont make a huge difference.
If I have 1 BB and facing 4 all-ins, I'm only earning ~6 BBs if I call and win. And if I lose, I'm still taking 9th. However, if I fold, I have a chance to jump up a few ladder spots because there is a good chance 1+ players will bust. In this situation, I'd rather try to bust 6th or 7th than 9th because of money jumps.