Pushing Little Aces

When short stacked you have to move, every tournament player knows it, but what's your opinion of ppushing the little ace?
I'm talking A2 to 6/7, when you're short even trash like A8/9 looks good.

Personally I hate it. I'd rather push with Q8 or J4 or something, how about you? I think this way because it's so easy to get dominated, and ace-x is the kind of hand big stacks like to call to knock out a player with.

I just proved my point, all-in with A8, ran into ace king. The board actually double paired until a king hit the river to give him the win. Fair play.

it also depends where you get A-x and if anyone entered the pot before you act. most of the time when its folded to me I would shove with any Ace on the button or in the blinds, sometmes if im heads up against a late position limper while im in the BB i may take a shot and go all-in pf

I have a post with some interesting reply's about this topic if your interested. https://www.cardschat.com/forum/cash-games-11/how-do-you-play-ace-x-149189/

worst hand to push with... push with KQ or suited connectors... if you push with a low A look at the hands that are goign to call you AK AQ AJ A10 maybe A9 most pocket pairs.... A6 vs a better A is 27% for you to win but 56 vs AK is 40% for you to win... if your forced to push know what hands your most likely to be called by and know how you match up

it's all so situational. To say pushing A little is good/bad can't be true all the time. Here's some guidelines to follow though.

1. Less than 10BBs Ax is something I push from CO thru the SB if it's folded to me.
2. A little is not a good hand to raise EP
3. EP it's better to shove suited connectors than A little.
4. It's all about ranging your opponents, stack sizes are very important. It's easier to get a middle sized stack to fold to your raise than a shorty or a big stack.

It depends what your motive is. If you are trying to double up by pushing from early position, I hate the play. If you're trying to steal, figuring that at least you have a few outs if you get called by a big pocket pair (other than aces), then it's not a horrible strategy. I'd pretty much only do it on a steal though.

Bobmurphy07 said:

it's all so situational. To say pushing A little is good/bad can't be true all the time. Here's some guidelines to follow though.

1. Less than 10BBs Ax is something I push from CO thru the SB if it's folded to me.
2. A little is not a good hand to raise EP
3. EP it's better to shove suited connectors than A little.
4. It's all about ranging your opponents, stack sizes are very important. It's easier to get a middle sized stack to fold to your raise than a shorty or a big stack.

Click to expand...

i agree with this although i start shoving earlier with say 13BB or less. if however if get to less than 8 big blinds i tighten up a lot. now i start to look for hands that have more showdown value as i'm more likely to be called. as a rule i tend to fold A/rag i will steal w/it but this depends if the blinds are passive or aggressive. but if i shove i would rather have SCs and low ones at that if i get called i want to live cards.

Well if you find yourself in that kind of situation, you must push allin. Its very unlikely that you get a better hand, and usually a lot of big chip players will call you with not so good of a hand cause ... first they want to knock you out as quick as they can cause thats good for them... second cause they think your going allin with anything you get thats workable, cause you are short stack one way or another. Now, it also depends on the table... and possibly your position. If your on the button, and the antes aren't up yet, you have some time to look for another hand. If you feel that your chip stack is just too low, then i would advise you to go for it. I mean A 9 isn't as bad as you think. If you go allin, hand that dominate you are an ace with a higher kicker, or a high pocket pair, which, if not aces, can be beaten by your ace. If your lucky youll get a call from a small pocket, and if your really lucky youll steal the blinds, which is just another way to keep you alive till you get that monster and then you play that monster well to suck out all the chips you can.

what about A-8? what would your chances be then?

billyth3kid said:

worst hand to push with... push with KQ or suited connectors... if you push with a low A look at the hands that are goign to call you AK AQ AJ A10 maybe A9 most pocket pairs.... A6 vs a better A is 27% for you to win but 56 vs AK is 40% for you to win... if your forced to push know what hands your most likely to be called by and know how you match up

Click to expand...

I saw a article by Phil Gordon(think it was him,not 100% sure thou) where he is talking about when to start pushing small PP and Ax.
He said when he reaches 10BB or smaller stack and gets Ax he counts the number of players behind him and if the X is higher then the amount of players behind he pushes all-in.
So if have A4 with 3players behind and a 10BB< stack he shoves.

Pretty good rule of thumb imo, he had some math explaning why this is a good strategy but i dont remeber it...

In Phil Gordon's theory, if you use the math with # of players left to your X, you have a 50% chance of being dominated if the math works in your favor. This works when you're shortstacked and have to make a move, not with any amount of chips. Anyone who wants to see the whole thing check it out in the Full Tilt Academy.

It's so situational. When you push with Ax(x=234567) you will at best be in a coin flip if called but most likely behind. If you're hitting into the blinds to steal, that's fine, but being in ep not so good. How short you are and how short your opponents are is a factor.