What is everyone’s call range after you raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. If I cover villain, I usually snap call with AJ+ or any pair.

However, I was deep in a huge MTT, and I had 44 on the button. Villain on the small blind had around 30 BB and just barely covered me. Action folds to me and I raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. BB folds and I call because I had him on an AQ, AK range. Villain shows AA and I get knocked out. I probably forgot about the higher pairs portion of his range, but I’m kinda frustrated that I didn’t account for that. I know in terms of ICM that it was a bad move, but I have a hard time playing low pocket pairs/folding them.

How would you deal with this situation and how do you deal with folding strong hands in pre-flop situations? I think it’s more of a mental thing because I know fundamentally, it’s more sound to fold pocket 4s.

I think 30BB is a good amount in chips to waste all in a 44.
like you say, you could raise/fold to all- in, easily, if it's not a high roller tournament I think 27BB still very good amount
"How would you deal with this situation..."
I think about my pasts situations in this tournament basically. Is hard to me to put in words my though process

With 44, you are about 50% to any two random cards and only 20% to a higher pair. I don't like calling all ins unless I have a good read on the opponent (or I have AA).

At a nine player table, somebody has AA every 25 hands, a pair every other hand. It is not that rare.

With 44, you were right to raise, but should have folded to 10X all in. Had villain been short stacked (<10BB), then I would have called because of the bet to pot ratio.

With 44, you rarely get to the river with best hand. You want to catch the third 4 (set) and hope to double up when you do. But you only catch that set about 12% on the flop, so you want to enter with a small pair on the cheap. You also need your villain to have about 20-25BB to make it profitable.

If you want to consistently go deep in mtts, you want to play (mostly) small ball. Avoid calling all ins when you might be beat. I understand you have to call sometimes, but a small pair is not the best time to risk your tourney.

Originally Posted by natelearnspoker

What is everyone’s call range after you raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. If I cover villain, I usually snap call with AJ+ or any pair.

However, I was deep in a huge MTT, and I had 44 on the button. Villain on the small blind had around 30 BB and just barely covered me. Action folds to me and I raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. BB folds and I call because I had him on an AQ, AK range. Villain shows AA and I get knocked out. I probably forgot about the higher pairs portion of his range, but I’m kinda frustrated that I didn’t account for that. I know in terms of ICM that it was a bad move, but I have a hard time playing low pocket pairs/folding them.


How would you deal with this situation and how do you deal with folding strong hands in pre-flop situations? I think it’s more of a mental thing because I know fundamentally, it’s more sound to fold pocket 4s.

I consider that you should have raised less (2-2.5BB) and fold to a reshove.. You can't assign him AQ or AK. You have to give him ranges. For sure in his range were also pairs bigger than yours. Most probably you were very close (between 45 and 50% favorite), but you could not risk your MTT life with 30BB with 44.

Also, maybe your 3BB raise could be seen as a strong hand and that' why he shoved.

I agree with neafana on the smaller raise size. We have 2 players to get the raise through.
In these situations, I think the bottom of my calling range is around 77. Given that ICM is in play that probably goes up to around 99.
Two other things also matter in this situation. Table images and the BB stack size. If either of you have been really loose or tight that could be changing his shoving range dramatically. If the big blind has less than 30 bb as well, and you continue to have difficulty folding to all ins, maybe open shoving is a better solution for you with these hands.
On the button, you should know what are planning to do against both players before you raise. Have a plan a stick to it.

Originally Posted by natelearnspoker

What is everyone’s call range after you raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. If I cover villain, I usually snap call with AJ+ or any pair.

However, I was deep in a huge MTT, and I had 44 on the button. Villain on the small blind had around 30 BB and just barely covered me. Action folds to me and I raise 3x BB and Villain shoves all in. BB folds and I call because I had him on an AQ, AK range. Villain shows AA and I get knocked out. I probably forgot about the higher pairs portion of his range, but I’m kinda frustrated that I didn’t account for that. I know in terms of ICM that it was a bad move, but I have a hard time playing low pocket pairs/folding them.

How would you deal with this situation and how do you deal with folding strong hands in pre-flop situations? I think it’s more of a mental thing because I know fundamentally, it’s more sound to fold pocket 4s.

Hey Nate, great question.

It largely depends on the opponents stack size, rejamming range, and players behind.

The smaller the stack, the wider we can snap.

The wider the rejamming range, the wider we can snap.

The fewer players behind, the wider we can snap.

AND,our stack size matters too!

If calling and losing will cost us say 1/2-3/4 of our chips we should be more cautious than if calling and losing will only cost us say 1/4 of our chips.

Stack utility is a huge thing in tournaments and all these factors should be considered before making the call or the fold

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