AQ with a big stack

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gtn130

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I'm always unsure about this situation: There are times at a one-table SNG where it will be down to around four players, and I'll be in the chip lead with say 5k (started with 1.5). At that point when the blinds get really high, players with shorter stacks go all-in pre-flop to keep pace and steal blinds.

My question is when I have that large stack and a player has gone all-in, and I have AQ. I'm positive I have the best hand, and if not I'm going up against a small pair, but if I call someone with say 1.3k chips and lose, I'm back with the rest of the pack. I've made this call a few times, and it has gone both ways, but I want to know what people think is the best theory. Should I generally fold because I don't need to be in a coin flip situation with a large chip lead, or should I call knowing the I most likely have the best hand?
 
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sactokid544

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gtn130 said:
I'm always unsure about this situation: There are times at a one-table SNG where it will be down to around four players, and I'll be in the chip lead with say 5k (started with 1.5). At that point when the blinds get really high, players with shorter stacks go all-in pre-flop to keep pace and steal blinds.

My question is when I have that large stack and a player has gone all-in, and I have AQ. I'm positive I have the best hand, and if not I'm going up against a small pair, but if I call someone with say 1.3k chips and lose, I'm back with the rest of the pack. I've made this call a few times, and it has gone both ways, but I want to know what people think is the best theory. Should I generally fold because I don't need to be in a coin flip situation with a large chip lead, or should I call knowing the I most likely have the best hand?
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I would almost always call. You have to remember that the range of hands these shortstacks open with begins to widen at this point of the tournament.

You have between 40%-50% equity (or MUCH more) in a hand that could possibly burst the bubble (in a 1 table SNG) AND pad your chip lead, giving you a better chance to win.

Plus, AQ is a HUGE hand in 4-way play. No reason to be folding.
 
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suit2please

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Have to agree with sacto pretty much. But even at this point it pays to have been paying attention and taking notes, it always depends on the player.
 
poKerPlayer2oo9

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sactokid544 said:
I would almost always call. You have to remember that the range of hands these shortstacks open with begins to widen at this point of the tournament.

You have between 40%-50% equity (or MUCH more) in a hand that could possibly burst the bubble (in a 1 table SNG) AND pad your chip lead, giving you a better chance to win.

Plus, AQ is a HUGE hand in 4-way play. No reason to be folding.
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I agree with you man.If i'm leading and the short stack went all-in I would call him :D But who knows.Maybe that guy will beat me and I will again with almost the same stack with the others players.It is also available this option , gtn150 is right when said this.Tricky hand :)
 
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tdude

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This is a definite call. You have the pot odds and if you do lose, you are not in bad shape, but you can be in great shape if you win. I would never fold against the short stack in this situation.
 
salim271

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Well if you became the bigstack, you can obviously pull away again... i suppose it comes down to do you want to get 1st some of the time or 1st/2nd/3rd all of the time? The bigger your stack the better obviously, good question, I would hesitate on something like this too...
 
playsuji6

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I would call definetly! Aq is really a great card and there is kind of card you have to go. I may go even allin if i had AQ suited because you hold the higher stack, if you raised allin and there is a chance to get the sidepot and that you could win something even if you lose to the player who goes allin!
 
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aklee

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with AA there a lot times when i lost by calling on preflop.. (
need to read yor opponents..
 
Applepod

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In this situation, I think u should call almost all the time! Folding AQ at high blinds is not a good idea. There are people, who think that losing with AQ or with AA means that they did wrong, but it doesn't mean. It's just about luck. I want to wish good luck next time buddy! :)
 
MrPokerVerse

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I'd be calling. If you get sucked out or taken a bad beat your still in the mix and can play your way back.
 
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BluffYou123

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You just have to call.

The value of taking another player out outweighs the cost of losing the hand.
 
sickflopz_yo

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whenever you have the best hand regardless of where your situated you should get as much chips in the pot otherwise all in. If your thinking like that you are usually playing scared whenever that similar situation raises up again and it would be one of the leaks could have in your game
 
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sam98034

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sickflopz_yo said:
whenever you have the best hand regardless of where your situated you should get as much chips in the pot otherwise all in. If your thinking like that you are usually playing scared whenever that similar situation raises up again and it would be one of the leaks could have in your game
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It's not always the best idea to get as many chips in as possible with the best hand. At final tables the payouts move up quite dramatically; sometimes it's best to fold if there are a couple of all-ins. The best hand might be a 35% favorite 3-handed. And take this hand for example 99 vs. A10 vs. JQs. JQs is favored at 36%. And in rare cases it's even the correct play to fold AA.
 
salim271

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sam98034 said:
It's not always the best idea to get as many chips in as possible with the best hand. At final tables the payouts move up quite dramatically; sometimes it's best to fold if there are a couple of all-ins. The best hand might be a 35% favorite 3-handed. And take this hand for example 99 vs. A10 vs. JQs. JQs is favored at 36%. And in rare cases it's even the correct play to fold AA.
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Yeah that is true when you're short stacked but i wonder if its the same for a big stack? I mean sure the payout will go up, say two people get all in and the payout is 3 people and you get AK/Q and you're the bigstack, they're putting in about a third of your chips, should you call? The chances are that someone could be holding AK or even AA/KK, but if you lose someone will be out anyways, and if you suckout on them you'll become a huge chip leader and only you and one other will remain, should you still fold and let them duke it out?
 
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Depends on what you feel the players range is to be honest so I woud to actually be in the game to really know the correct decision. More times than not though I would call, a lot of these players ranges are really wide they shove with like a9 a10 aj kq a lot in those spots and you will have them dominated.
 
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stockid

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If you are playing for 1st it's an insta call. If you are playing just to get in the money...then you fold here.
 
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The_Pup

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I agree with the consensus here that this is a hand I want to get involved in - the SS is often shoving with a top 30% hand and AQ is in top 6% or so. This situation is the reason for having a big stack - if you lose you are still in pretty good shape. If there are players yet to act I am reraising all in as I want to isolate the initial raiser. A call occasionally will get a call from middle stack on BB; when the flop comes K99 and the BB shoves another 1500 you can look a bit of a charlie when you call that and they turn over J9 - a hand they are definitely folding if you reraised preflop.
 
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