Question: Have you EVER thrown away A-A before?

[OzExorcist]

You are in a satellite to the WSOP main event. There are 10 people left and the top 9 each get a $10,000.00 seat. You are currently 4th in chips, the blinds are 2000/4000 with an ante of 500. The two short stacks in the tournament have around 10000 chips each and you have 130,000. You pick up AA in the big blind. The huge chip leader on the button pushes.

Do you call and risk it or fold and most certainly take your $10,000.00 seat in the next 5 or 6 hands?

Same thing happens on the money bubble once they make it to the Main Event too - people fold AA (and every other hand) just to make sure they get their guaranteed $20K

 

[royalburrito24]

when i am close to the bubble i will only fold AA if i had satellited into the tournament and making the money is a substantial gain in my bankroll...

but if i bought in for the regular amount it doesn make any difference to me

 

[tomix]

:stupid:
You should NEVER fold AA pre-flop unless it is a satellite tournament..
Also, you should be able to fold AA postflop many times if you don't hit and there is a scary board.

This is one of the rare questions in poker that can be easily answered. And PokerAAAA posted the answer.

Even if it is MTT (not satellite) and you have 9 allins in front of you - go ahead and call!!! There is no reason to fold it. And if you play like a donk who folds AA - try reconsidering the buyins level you are at. Maybe it's just too much to lose if your aces get cracked?

 

[viking999]

i folded pocket aces pre-flop once in a satellite tourney.. i had was already in position to win one of the spots in the tourney so i simply folded them and made the tournament thru the satellite..

I'd still rarely fold AA in a satellite. If one player moves all-in on the bubble before me, I'm going with it to try and double or knock-out. It's just too much of a favorite. There would have to be some sick, multiway pot to make me fold. I guess the only kind of situation is if I have 40% of the chips in play and a guy with 41% of the chips in play moves all in in front of me.

Some people say they fold AA on the bubble as a courtesy if they have a huge chip lead and thus 100% to get a seat. I say that I want to get the tournament over and done with, so I'm happy to ruin someone's day. It would be unfair to all the other players for me NOT to call with AA. I once called an all-in with AA once on the bubble when I had 90% of the chips in play.

 

[riverboatrat]

both prflop and post flop, its a stupid question imo because every good player must have thrown away aces many a time.

 

[PrettyHoney]

Pre flop never, but post flop some few times only when I thought the other player had hit his trips or better. But it's something really hard to me to do.

 

[zachvac]

There should be NO reason WHATSOEVER to fold PREflop. It's THE STRONGEST preflop hand. Post-flop, though....Yeah I think I might have done it a few times.

Ring game right, tourney, sometimes it's smart to fold AA. You can be an underdog (although you still have the best shot to win and will triple or quadrouple up if you win). Depending on the situation, if you don't want to bust on the bubble, you can just throw it away, get to the money, and then try to climb up. In a ring game though, no reason to fold AA ever.

 

[riverboatrat]

i havenever folded AA preflop in a ring game but many a time in MTT

 

[Semicolonkid]

I guess I didn't think about tournement bubble-play. I suppose there COULD be THAT reason to fold and gaurantee yourself some money, rather than risk it(even if it's a small risk.)

This ONLY applies to tourneys, however.

 

[rounder22]

I rarely fold it unless flop is real connected.

 

[shawn-me5]

I did for the first time not too long ago. I was so proud of my self

 

[pokerblonde777]

I only play cash games right now. I can't remember folding pf. With scary flops though I have learned to fold. When I first started out I don't think I ever folded AA. I know better now.

 

[juggalojoe]

I folded AA pf when 3 people went all in before me.

 

[lottomode777]

If it was a satellite and I had enough chips guaranteed to win a seat or token, etc, I would not hesitate to fold if a big stack comes into the pot, raises, or shoves all in. Even if I have an 80% chance of winning, I wouldn't risk it to gain a few more useless chips, when it's not going to increase my reward. If I can win the seat/token by just folding every single hand, I would gladly do so.

 

[Cheetah]

Post-flop, there are many situations to fold them. It is JUST one pair, usually with little prospect of improving.

Pre-flop, there are 2 clear situations I can think of when they should be folded(and I have folded them):

(1) In a satelite, you have enough chips to get a ticket, but if you lose even some of your chips, you would not have enugh chips left to get there. AA will win a showdown 90% against a single random hand. Why take the 10% unnecessary risk of busting just out of the prize when it is 100% certain you will get it by NOT PLAYING?

I have seen many players play hands much worse than AA in such situations, when they should be folding everything.

(2) A similar situation arises when the prize structure has wide steps(many places pay the same prize before the next step). If the stack is very short and close to the bubble for that step, it might be correct to fold AA if doubling up will do very little to propell you through the next prize level. This situation requires more judgment based on the specific prizes, blinds levels, etc.

Finally, Sklansky describes a situation when ANY hand(including AA) should be folded at a major bubble when you are the chip leader. If one of the small stacks goes all-in, then it is best to fold any hand, because if you win, you lose the profitable situation of stealing blinds from small and medium stacks. The gain of winning one hands is small compared to the gain of stealing with impunity and increasing a big stack.

I disagree with one of the posts where it was said that no pro would ever fold AA pre-flop. There are clear situations when AA should be folded even pre-flop.

 

[Barrettm95]

Question: in the wsop satellite if everyone in top 9 gets an entry is there any point to keep playing after the bubble? Does #1 get anything else? Heres a situation to probably fold AA preflop. If your the button in the first hand of a Full Tilt Donkyment and everyone else has gone all in before you. True you have a better chance than anyother individual but over all there is about 75% chance you won't win and you're bust in the first hand screaming RIGGED! and posting long diatribes about how AA SUX when you lose to 64o.

 

[mendozaline]

When it's hand #1 (or 2 or 3 or 7) and half the table has gone all in in front of you (with bricks)...you know one of those nutz is gonna hit a str8 or flush or something ridiculous - I'm there to play the tourney, not just the hand. And yes, it sux big time.

Exactly. AA means nothing if six maniacs just went all-in in front of you. You lost the edge at about 3 nutz.

 

[Barrettm95]

Another albeit very unlikely situation you definately want to fold: You're playing a high stakes cash game in a seedy bar in the worst part of town. (or Sug Knights home game surrounded by gangstas packing heat. you decide) You glance down at your cards and are happy to see to beautiful black bullets staring up at you. However the blood drains from your face when you realise they're both spades .

 

[fomoppy]

how can you not call with aces in this spot
YOU HAVE THE BEST HAND POSSIBLE! it's like folding a royal flush
if you get sucked out on you get sucked out on but "that's poker"
but i'd rather know i made the right call and i was ahead then being a wuss and saving my chips to make a seat

 

[phatjose]

how can you not call with aces in this spot
YOU HAVE THE BEST HAND POSSIBLE! it's like folding a royal flush
if you get sucked out on you get sucked out on but "that's poker"
but i'd rather know i made the right call and i was ahead then being a wuss and saving my chips to make a seat

It's not about pride or ego, it's about money. Folding and assuring yourself a seat makes you more money than busting out on the bubble does. I would definitely lay down AA if I was on the bubble and could coast in. In a ring game, no brainer, my money is going in 110/100 times.