9 to the bubble in micro stakes MTT 9 handed

Hero UTG 21 BB
Villain SB 15 BB

Hero opens 2BB with AQs
Everyone folds
Villain raises all-in
BB folds

Villain joined the table few hands before so had no read on them

Would you make the call and why in this spot?

I did and lost to a small pocket pair, still managed to make ITM
I called because I was hoping to face a weaker Ace or flipping against a pocket pair and because the idea is to win the tournament and not just make min cash

Thanks for any answer - trying to get better

I think your call was fine. You've got to gamble some if you have a big hand and get shoved on by a short stack.

A more interesting play would have been for you to shove (instead of raising 2x). I don't know the stack sizes of the rest of the table but if you are the table chip leader, shoving puts a lot of pressure on all the short stacks and you might have gotten the small pair to fold.

I think I would usually call but I would also add that the earlier your position, the more you should lean towards folding. SB knows that a raise from UTG looks strong so they would probably only 3-bet shove with pairs and big aces, which usually means you're just flipping. The later your position, the more you can lean towards a call because it is more likely SB is 3-bet shoving into your weaker perceived range.

By the way, jamming UTG with AQs with 21bb is fine too, especially if for example the blinds are about to go up.

The draw of the situation and the level of the tournament, a fold is more profitable than a call, but from what we see on many tables, the vast majority of players prefer to call and lose blinds when drawing from an unprofitable hand.

hi hi blun!!!
i call
but what i know?
i suck at poker

Its a standard call. If he is jamming a small pair, he is surely also jamming some hands, that AQs dominate.

We have to consider the fact that we are close to the bubble and that you are opening UTG, I think that a player with minimal knowledge will not go all in with any hand in this situation.
And then there's the fact that you said that he had just arrived at the table, so he didn't have a lot of information about you, either, which means that he may give more credit to your raise.
For all this I would fold here.

I plugged this scenario into ICMizer telling the program, it was an 888 Poker MTT with 27 places paying and 36 players left. I put the average stack size at 23BB, so just above Heros stack. Heros calling range is TT+, AQ+ with AQo being a breakeven call. So this is fairly close with AQs being the worst hand, that is making an actual profit by calling.

The opponent is supposed to be jamming 12% of hands, and given that he showed up with a small pair, he was probably playing pretty close to the GTO strategy. However if the opponent was trying to fold his way to a min-cash and jamming tighter than 12%, then AQs become a marginal losing call.

So all in all this was a very close spot, where we can go either way without much difference to our long term results. If we want to secure the min-cash, folding is completely fine. If on the other hand we want to try to build a big stack and put pressure on other people in future hands, then calling is certainly fine as well.

Nh, snap call.

I think the size of your raise didn't make much difference on the preflop. Because the villain got the perfect situation for pushing a low pair. If you wanted to double your stack, you should not regret this call. It all depends on whether you are willing to risk your tournament life now or later by waiting for a pocket pair.

What about the fact the other guy shoved there with low pair? What do you think, is that a good move in general? Many times I was in that exact situation and I lost more times than I've won. I did it with pocket jacks recently and lost to A Q after an ace came on the river. Recently I feel I get more succes and I'm better playing the pot, rather than flipping. Yesterday in the cc freeroll half an hour into the tournament I made 3x Bb raise preflop with A K off, someone shoved and all my insticts screamed this is bad and I'm unlucky at these, also I had a decent stack, but how can you fold A K? I lost to stupid pocket 9's. Ofcourse a J and a Q came on the flop, god forbid for an A or K. I don't know, I hate shoving and since it's a big part of poker, maybe this is not for me.

ICMizer has the Villain jamming all pairs in this configuration, so yes its a reasonable play by him. Of course he is toast, when he get called by a better pair, but most of the time he either get the fold, or he get called by two overcards, which is fine. When he win the pot uncontested, he increase his stack 30%, which is very significant, and this is why, its a profitable jam, if Hero defend correctly. If Hero call to wide, then jamming a small pair is losing Villain money. Its essentially a bluff, and as with all bluffs its not profitable to bluff a calling station

You decided to make the call and double your stack. Important to understanding what villain did with a low pair he would did with a weaker ace too.

Originally Posted by UberPokerFan

I think your call was fine. You've got to gamble some if you have a big hand and get shoved on by a short stack.

A more interesting play would have been for you to shove (instead of raising 2x). I don't know the stack sizes of the rest of the table but if you are the table chip leader, shoving puts a lot of pressure on all the short stacks and you might have gotten the small pair to fold.

I noticed that people rarely shoved in the small pair online more often than they would in live poker.

So that means we have to play against WIIIIIDDDDER range online. Sucks but oh well.

Yeah - easy call. Sucks you lost - but thats how it is. I lost my A/K suited to A/J off on the final table yesterday. Just amazed A/J is off suit is still considered a shoving/calling hand by some players. Junk to me