$3.30 NL HE MTT: A-A - The One That Got Away

[s2w2a]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

3.30

Game Options

1. Deep Stacked
2. Rebuy

Currency

$

2,500 GTD - Black Chip Poker

In the late stages of this tourney, I was down to 25,000 in chips.

All in shoves with A-Q and A-A 3x, I was back in contention with 550,074 chips.

antes - 2,500 Blinds: 10,000 / 20,000

In the small blind, I'm dealt A-A for the fourth time, and had a feeling that they might not hold up this time, so I decided to slow play them....

Hero: Ah-Ac
UTG +1 - raises to 40,000
MP - calls
BTN - calls
Hero: I re- raise to 70,000

The Flop: 9c-Qs-5c

Hero: I bet 79,375
UTG + 1 - re-raises to 158,750
BTN - calls
Hero: calls

The Turn: 7c

UTG +1 - raises all in for 544,500

I know I'm probably behind at this point with 331, 314 behind....if not for the ace of clubs, I probably would have folded.

I decided to call - all in hoping to hit a club on the river...

The River: Jd

UTG + 1 - shows Kc - 10c

Hero: 47th out of 816 - If I hit the nut flush on the river, I would have been in the top five of chip leaders.

*This tournament started at 7pm EST and this hand took place at 1:30 am EST...fatigue was definitely a factor at this point... still no excuse for a poorly played hand.

1) I should have raised more pre-flop
2) I should have found a fold on the turn with a flush draw probability for UTG +1
3) I should have trusted my instincts that being dealt A-A for the fourth time may not hold up this time

* Finishing in the money after being down to 25,000 was a consolation prize, but something needs to done about the number of levels late registration is allowed....6 hours of play to win $9.37 is rough...which was another factor in making the call.. if you don't chip up in these tournaments and finish in the top 3 the pay out doesn't justify the time invested.

 

[fundiver199]

You should have jammed preflop. There was already around 145k chips in the pot (depending on the ante), and your stack was only 550k. As a rule of thump, when the pot size is more than 25% of your stack, you should never do anything preflop other than jam, fold or defend your big blind by calling. Against unkonwns you can make an exploitative deviation with AA, because you obviously want action.

But the issue here is, its difficult to pick a size, that is big enough to get only one or at most two players to call without obviously committing you to the pot. Min-clicking, like you did, is a complete disaster. You are literally inviting them to stick around with their entire range and try to suck out on you and with position as well. I will not even get into postflop, because if you fix preflop, this will never happen again.

 

[fundiver199]

3) I should have trusted my instincts that being dealt A-A for the fourth time may not hold up this time

I dont recommend relying on superstition in poker. Its a cold math based game, and the likelyhood of something happening does not depend on, what happened earlier in this session, last week or last month. And for that reason we should just make the same play again and again and again, if it is the right play. We should not be focused on recent results, because they do not matter.

 

[300HPGOD]

I almost read this hand history wrong and was going to say go for value with AA against a min raise and 27 BBs but there are callers in the middle as well. With a min raise and two calls in front we should never be just calling with AA so then we should decide to what amount we should 3 bet. Using a 4x out of position raise plus 2x for every caller to the raise (similar to 1x more for every limper) that would be 8 BBs plus 4 more BBs to be at 12 BBs. That is almost half our stack so the only logical move would be to shove in this spot. Your min raise here is really bad and not attempting to be mean but it is really bad. Its essentially the same as just calling there since none of these players already in the pot are folding for just 1.5 more BBs to put in. This should be a no brainer jam and one that every player should be very happy to make facing all the action in front of you with the strongest starting hand you could have.

As said above, dont use superstitions to dictate your play. We all have them, Im not going to lie about that and we all have those feelings that are similar in a sense we just feel like I am going to get screwed here. However, poker is a long term game (even though at times it doesnt feel like it) so we must always strive to make the best move each time for that situation. Of course we get shafted here and there and yet we keep coming back to play because we feel we are good enough to put ourselves in that deep run again where next time the law of averages says we will come out on top

 

[s2w2a]

Thank you both for your input.

I posted this hand because I know I didn't play it well pre-flop....and F'd it up.

Again, prior to this flop, I jammed A-A 3x and doubled up each time to get back in contention.

I can't recall getting dealt A-A 4x late in a tournament ever.

Why I didn't jam the 4th time was a huge mistake and cost me from possibly making a run at the final table...

I don't think superstition dictated my play, although the thought did cross my mind, however fatigue was definitely a factor...

6 hours into the tourney at 1:30am in the morning, after playing some sit and go's prior, I was not sharp when I needed to be.

Hopefully next time, I'll make a better decision regardless of being tired.

 

[fundiver199]

I will not even get into postflop, because if you fix preflop, this will never happen again.

Need to correct myself a little here, because sometimes we will find ourselfes in a similar situation, when we raise first in from early or mid position, and then a bunch of people call us in situations, where they should either have 3-bet or folded. So what we have here is basically a pot of around 300k with 480k left behind. This is an SPR of 1,6, and that means, we are very happy for play for stacks with AA on a board like this even against multible opponents. So our mindset here should never be, how we can find an excuse to get away, or trying to get to showdown cheaply. Out mindset should only be, what is the most profitable way to get our stack in the middle.

You start with a bet of 80k, which is around 27% pot, and thats completely fine in a multiway pot with such a low SPR. But when UTG+1 then essentially min-clicks, and BTN calls, why are you not jamming? Pot is now going to be 780k with only 320k left behind, and what are you hoping to achieve by letting another card roll off? Just get it in and be happy to run it against whatever, they have. Or if they want to put in this much and then fold, thats also totally cool. Not that this would have changed the result, because its not like, he would have raise-folded a flushdraw + gutshot + overcard. But the fact, you just called, and then even considered folding on the turn, is a sign, you are overly focused on not going broke, and you are not applying enough aggression on the early streets.

 

[DaMooca]

I dont recommend relying on superstition in poker. Its a cold math based game, and the likelyhood of something happening does not depend on, what happened earlier in this session, last week or last month. And for that reason we should just make the same play again and again and again, if it is the right play. We should not be focused on recent results, because they do not matter.

This comment is so good!! People play full of superstitions.

 

[najisami]

You should have jammed preflop. There was already around 145k chips in the pot (depending on the ante), and your stack was only 550k. As a rule of thump, when the pot size is more than 25% of your stack, you should never do anything preflop other than jam, fold or defend your big blind by calling. Against unkonwns you can make an exploitative deviation with AA, because you obviously want action.

But the issue here is, its difficult to pick a size, that is big enough to get only one or at most two players to call without obviously committing you to the pot. Min-clicking, like you did, is a complete disaster. You are literally inviting them to stick around with their entire range and try to suck out on you and with position as well. I will not even get into postflop, because if you fix preflop, this will never happen again.

Toygh one man. On the turn, with the nuts draw, you were already committed and finding a fold was very difficult. You could've probably given up on the flop to play it safe (still tough). The decision should've been made preflop in my opinion. With AA at that point, I would just shove. It doesn't matter how many times you had the hand.