I was playing a freeroll on pokerstars with a 3k pricepool and 650 participants. 15 minutes in was I with startstack and an aggressive player went all-in with a 4BB shorter stack than me. I call pre-flop with QQ he has A9 and he hits the Ace on the river.
I checked the hand-analysis afterwards and saw that I will win 3 of 4 times. But is it worth the risk in a such a good tournament??
No way, not only 15 minutes in. Cash, oh yes, call all day. MTT? Early? No way,
not for my almost my whole stack. Yet, as you can see, going all in w A-9 that early is not exactly a genius play, especially with a crap 9 kicker. He has draws that just suck - Top one pair, 2 pair, and two ONE card st8's/flushes? One is only 9 high, so might as well just be one flush draw. Argh. It's just a weak azz hand. Clearly, the old "but, It's a free roll" applies, which ranks right alongside "but it was
suited!".
I'm not suggesting folding or playing scared, yet that early against a stack that could cripple you...if you want to survive to win, you do occasionally have to lay down a big hand (if only I could more often. I must admit, I might well have called also, as, lol,
it's free!). That being said, who could blame you if you were
shortstacked. Yet, after only 15 minutes, just how short where you that you could not fold and wait for a better spot?
Speaking of, your bigger problem here really is why were you so shortstacked after only 15 minutes of play (assuming you meant
short instead of
start-stacked) I mean, it happens, fine; yet what were the levels? Was it a turbo?
I despise big laydowns, but in MTT, it's the name of the game. 2 out of three or 4 out of 5 do not mean squat if you are wrong and go bye bye with no moola. Pick better spots. And keep in mind the fish level of a 3k free game is off the charts.
bluffing is pointless and fancy plays are best left for when the schools of fish have been thinned out by the sharks.
Surviving means seeing a flop before starting a war, if at all possible, early in the game. And if you simply shove w AA or KK all the time, they will just fold. You should be raising preflop with your good hands 2-3x every time to keep them guessing. Once you do that with say AA, (you 2.5x as always, then a guy shoves and you call, and you felt him), they will watch out for you. Then when you have QQ and 2.5x they might think twice about shoving with a crap hand like A9 before seeing a flop.
Just keep in mind, with QQ, any flop with a Ace or King (or a good draw) can spell disaster. What is the villain's range? Is THE question. See guys stubbornly hold on to QQ right into the rail all the time in MTT's. It's not cash.