folding AA preflop

KarmaQQ · Aug 18, 2008

i was recently told a story and i wanted to know what everyone else thought.... last $22 on a site in a 6 person sit and go and on the button everyone in front of the player went all in and he was holding AA, he folded in hopes of playing 3 handed or heads up with better odd of making the money. Was it a good fold?

Poof · Aug 18, 2008

I would've said yes but after reading around here a bit AA is the best hand preflop and I would now say call. I had a similar situation pls dont say hh because this was the first time I have ever wanted one and on ft the box was not checked. It is now but there were 4 other players all in preflop I had aces.
With that many ppl I was a little discouraged at first because I saw someone had my ace but all other players had combos of face cards so I knew their chances of hitting set was down too. Well the friggen board made a strait 8 high. We all split pot back and everyone was laughing, I was ticked,lol I suppose if i was one of the kq holders I might have found a little more humor.

SAH89 · Aug 18, 2008

I asked this question to Beth Shak, and she said NO!!!!!!!!

PrityBrn-IdGirl · Aug 18, 2008

when I think about folding AA I say never..... but then when you put in perspective it was your last 22 bucks coupled with the fact that there were 3 all ins.... it is in my opinion one of the very rare times when you may want to seriously consider it ... If it were me I think I may fold only because it was my last $ and it would be as if I were trying to be ITM....Now I'm not saying that it would be easy..... however if you keep in perspective the fact that your odds for being ITM dramatically increase even though your stack doesn't.... then you will see that folding is the best thing to do... you will definately stilll be in it with fewer people and you will exhibit the discipline of a pro in folding a big hand for a greater purpose....

mindchurch · Aug 18, 2008

even if ur up against all 5 players u get 49% chance of winning which definitely gives u the right pot odds... that said, i can see the point of idGirl but in wsop or WPT tourney, not in a 22$ SNG

032483 · Aug 18, 2008

Have to agree with PrityBrn-IdGirl in this situation. Live to play 3 handed at a chance for making your money. Going up against 3 other players you're probably only about a 40-50% fav. Sit it out and wait for another spot.

vpb0i · Aug 18, 2008

of course not, don't even matter if the whole table went all in, never fold aces preflop, that just the worst move ever to do in poker, i mean the main part of this game is to have cards like that come to you and you gonna tell me to fold just cause 2-3 people went all in on your last buy in, i think not, its just a dumb move, you play to win, and aces are the best hand obv preflop, gl

canesin · Aug 18, 2008

Man.. it's complicated..
Everyone knows AA is the best preflop, but some players will go out.. in a SNG of $22... hummmm... regrets majoroty I fold.. ou could lose.. if you win you be bigger of course but still will be in the same position of folding (in prize speaking).. so if you are a moneymaker.. fold.. if are ther to make the win.. call...

ScorpionMK · Aug 19, 2008

There is no way in hell i would fold those aces....You are taking a bigger risk because you are going against 3 players BUT if you win you get 3 tims All in chips and that would probably make you the chip leader depending on how big the tournament is. Even when you go all in with the rockets against one person there is a chance he can beat you. With 3 people all in there is a bigger risk but also a bigger reward, no way i am folding...

jdeliverer · Aug 19, 2008

1. Don't fold aces preflop in a SnG (unless on the button with an extreme shortstack), you always have odds to call.

2. Use better BRM, you should never be playing with your last 22$.

3. What site are you on where 3 people are all in during a 22$ sng?

mls1024 · Aug 19, 2008

There is no way I fold aces pre-flop in my opinion. I would think everyone wants to get all their money in as a favorite. I also agree, never to put your last cash in one tourney.

ph_il · Aug 19, 2008

The only reason this is considered a 'difficult call' is because their full bankroll is on the line. However, your friend should have thought of that before he joined the game.

What exactly is the logic here? Your friend puts all their money into one game, hopes to win, but is going to fold the best hand preflop in a situation that will most likely catapult him to the top and into victory? Because he doesn't want to risk losing all his money...? ...That makes a lot of sense.

This is such an easy call, IMO. Your friends thinking is backwards. They're not thinking 'If I fold, maybe I can squeeze into the money' They're thinking 'I dont want to risk it all on one (THE BEST) hand'. Which is a result of putting your full BR into one game. If this was a $2 game and your friend had a $22 BR, this is an easy call. It would be the exact same situation, the only difference is the knowledge that you wont lose all your money in one hand. It has nothing to do with whats going on in the hand.

ajrobin · Aug 19, 2008

Call. Without a shadow of a doubt. If theyve put their whole BR on the line theyve got to be willing to lose it on bad luck. Never fold AA PF.

E-Dub · Aug 19, 2008

Is this a trick question? No way in hell should aces be folded preflop here. Heck, with those pot odds it's difficult to conceive of any hand that should be folded here.

In my opinion the bigger mistake is putting your last $22 into one sit-n-go. What kind of BR management is that? That's almost as bad as Mike bringing (and losing) his whole BR to the first heads-up showdown with Teddy KGB in Rounders.*

(*--I apologize to the entire CC community for making what is surely like the 1,543,557th reference to Rounders on this site. It just seems appropriate here.)

BelgoSuisse · Aug 19, 2008

I guess the correct answer is: it depends, as always.

Is this the first hand or later on, i.e. are stacks size equal or uneven? That affects the likelihood of remaining heads-up after the all_in fest.

Then there's the issue of the SNG payout structure. If it's winner takes all, then folding the aces would be incredibly -EV. If it's flat and 1st or 2nd get the same prize, then folding could be incredibly +EV.

With all these caveats, playing your last $22 in a single SNG means playing with scared money, and that is -EV in essence. So the main mistake occured when clicking the "Register" button. Later mistakes are quite irrelevant in comparison.

pokerjoker1 · Aug 19, 2008

stupid fold i think, AA preflop ist the best hand to play. (maybe against 3 players)
Go Allin with this hand and get thair money.

dj11 · Aug 19, 2008

In this case this player decided he was in a gamblin mood when he committed his last $22 to a single event, and now wants to consider folding out of his dream scenario?

He has to commit to this pot, right or wrong in the bigger picture.

If you treat your money like its a horse race! You've got to play it like its a horse race. In this case you're even getting better odds than if it were a Horse race! In a horse race seldom is the favorite even a 2-1 odds bet, in this case as described it's already 3-1 or better (depending on the blinds actions) bet.

CasinoChef · Aug 19, 2008

Its a auto call with only one other player. But AA can and does often go wrong with 3 or 4 players in the pot.

one2envy · Aug 19, 2008

Depends on the game,,, if its a tourney and theres a big prize at stake then against that many callers you are bound to get sucked out on and knocked out of the tourney, fold. Even though you are the preflop fav.

In a shorthanded cash game with a few callers I might take my chances. IM IN LIKE FLIN =)

ph_il · Aug 19, 2008

In certain situations, folding AA could be more profitable. This is not one of them.

BurlyIves · Aug 19, 2008

That was an awful laydown! Scared money loses every time.
Simply asked, Why would you fold the best hand? And with the
pot odds you are gettting with AA? Lemme tell you a little story.
My buddy was playing on Full Tilt under the name Twist_one420,
and he was totally broke, however he manged to get a $26 token
using his full tilt points. He took the token and bought into a $26 90 man KO. On very 1st hand, he had 3 people all in in front of him, and he was
holding Aces. I was at his house watching, and he was thinking about folding!
I said NO! If you lose I will deposit with my debit card right now! He calls and knocks all 3 players out, quadrouples up, and collects $12 in bounties
to replenish his empty bankroll. He went on to take 3rd and got his roll back up. NEVER FOLD AA PREFLOP! IT IS THE BEST HAND BY A LONG SHOT! ! !

ButtonDog · Aug 19, 2008

That many people in the hand I would fold in an instant. The chances are pretty good that the other two aces are being held by other players, which means I am drawing dead.

I came to play poker not keno.

sliver101 · Aug 19, 2008

i spose he could wait for a better hand????

KICKIN_ACES · Aug 19, 2008

philthy said:
The only reason this is considered a 'difficult call' is because their full bankroll is on the line. However, your friend should have thought of that before he joined the game.

Having been on the bad side of AA busted quite often recently my 1st thought was hell yes fold & use your poker skills to battle it out & take the luck factor right out of the equation. After further thought though I agree with philthy that the only reason you would even consider folding is you whole bankroll is on the line.

BillyTheBull · Aug 19, 2008

BelgoSuisse said:
With all these caveats, playing your last $22 in a single SNG means playing with scared money, and that is -EV in essence. So the main mistake occured when clicking the "Register" button. Later mistakes are quite irrelevant in comparison.

dj11 said:
In this case this player decided he was in a gamblin mood when he committed his last $22 to a single event, and now wants to consider folding out of his dream scenario?

Well put, BS & DJ -- this just about sums it up in a nutshell!

ButtonDog said:
That many people in the hand I would fold in an instant. The chances are pretty good that the other two aces are being held by other players, which means I am drawing dead. I came to play poker not keno.

Based on that comment, you might want to stick with Keno, actually . . . basically, what you're saying here is that the only way you're going to win a hand with AA is by making a set???? You got it competely wrong! In fact, the reason why the big pairs (AA, KK, QQ) are such incredibly strong starting hands is that they will often win a pot unimproved, while small/med pairs, connectors, etc. usually will need at least some (if not lots of) help from the board to take down a pot, especially in an AIPF situation where a showdown is guaranteed. So, while you might be correct in your assumption that there might not be any more aces in the deck here, your thinking is completely backwards -- this is an advantage for you, not vice versa. And even if the aces are still in the deck and you're up against 4 other (smaller) pocket pairs, 75% of the time you still won't need to make a set to win the hand. (I might be slightly off on this number, but all your opponents combined will at best have eight outs COMBINED, so my hand-over-fist math here seems about right.)

sliver101 said:
i spose he could wait for a better hand????

ROFL . . . or, just wait for one of these to come around: :elefant:

folding AA preflop

KarmaQQ

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Poof

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SAH89

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PrityBrn-IdGirl

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mindchurch

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032483

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vpb0i

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