$530 NLHE MTT: How terribly did I play my AA?

[Jacki Burkhart]

The assumption that some one would 4b/f KK is really odd, why would someone elect to 4bet fold the 2nd nuts when they have the opportunity to call the 3bet?

not really. He 4bets when he thinks he is ahead. He folds when he realizes he is a 4:1 dog because he still has a workable stack if he folds. This series runs for 2 weeks, 3 times a year for the last 10+ years and this player is in the top 10 all time money leaders of this series with 3 "bracelets" and 12 final tables. He is no fish, and his game style is to not get overcommitted in the early levels.

That said, if he has KK he is going to call with it a bunch of the time, but not 100%....and I don't actually KNOW he has KK. I put his range at QQ+ and AK heavily weighted toward KK. Even if he has KK 80% of the time, then he is gonna fold the other 20% of the time. I feel like I'm really letting premium hands off the hook cheap by jamming preflop.

But....after carefully considering all the responses in this thread, I can see that 5betting all in preflop is a better way to play the hand....although in this particular case it would have gotten me knocked out of the tournament; it will usually be best. That doesn't mean mixing up your play and choosing alternate lines is a bad move, or a huge error.

 

[duggs]

not really. He 4bets when he thinks he is ahead. He folds when he realizes he is a 4:1 dog because he still has a workable stack if he folds. This series runs for 2 weeks, 3 times a year for the last 10+ years and this player is in the top 10 all time money leaders of this series with 3 "bracelets" and 12 final tables. He is no fish, and his game style is to not get overcommitted in the early levels.

That said, if he has KK he is going to call with it a bunch of the time, but not 100%....and I don't actually KNOW he has KK. I put his range at QQ+ and AK heavily weighted toward KK. Even if he has KK 80% of the time, then he is gonna fold the other 20% of the time. I feel like I'm really letting premium hands off the hook cheap by jamming preflop.

But....after carefully considering all the responses in this thread, I can see that 5betting all in preflop is a better way to play the hand....although in this particular case it would have gotten me knocked out of the tournament; it will usually be best. That doesn't mean mixing up your play and choosing alternate lines is a bad move, or a huge error.

good players never ever ever ever 4b/fold KK here. honestly

 

[Arjonius]

good players never ever ever ever 4b/fold KK here. honestly

Rarely, not never. http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-journal.php?subaction=showfull&id=1224581759&archive=

 

[duggs]

That's really bad logic, I plan to 4b/snap but instead get cold feet and fold.

 

[doamartian]

ALL in pre

Sounds like you were trying to get max value for your AA if not then why not shove pre? You would have had value from his raise and made some chips. Tryin to milk AA almost always bites me in the nutt