AA early in tournament: should I fold?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Oldstrings
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Does it seem that you lose more or is it actually true ? 😉

If you know that the other player is VERY tight then you might decide to fold QQ sometimes, but in general these are the situations that you hope for early on in a MTT.
 
I always call with aces preflop. Except for cases such as the bubble, before the prize places. Because it's a shame to lose with such cards. You don't know what your opponent has. He can bluff. But it's better not to risk it. If your stack allows
 
it is obvious that you have to play it. there is no reason to withdraw. it's the best hand. you just have to know when to fold if the Flop is not with you.
 
Oldstrings said:
A few times now I have got pocket aces to Queens, very early on in a tournament. And another player goes all in. I believe I almost always call. I seem to be losOmg more than I win. Should I change my strategy and fold?
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No. Whenever you know, you are going to be significantly ahead, no matter what your opponents hold, calling their jam is the most trivial decision in poker. And its fine to bust early in a tournament, as long as you played well. Then you just rebuy, reenter or play another one. Its a lot worse to bust on the bubble after playing for 3,5 hours, where of course the same situation can also happen.
 
Why are you so critical of this couple? If the best card seems bad to you, then which one is good? Yes, if a lot of players have entered with a big raise or all-in, then at your discretion you can fold AA. But I wouldn't do it at the beginning of the tournament.
 
Let's say you get aces early in 5 tournaments and face a shove in the first hand. 4 times you win and double up and once you bust. The 4 times you win you are essentially starting the tournament with double the number of chips. But you are paying 5 buy ins for that because of the 1 that you busted in. So you are essentially paying 1.25 buy ins per tournament to start with double the number of chips.

So would you pay 1.25 buy ins for double the number of chips? How would that affect your ROI in the long run?

That's how I think about it and I always call.
 
I am with you and play those very conservative early in a tournament. Good luck.
 
Oldstrings said:
Fair enough. Didn’t mean to waste your time.
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lol. i think you misunderstood. you aren't wasting my time, i'm trying to help you improve.

i'm saying you're wasting your time doing things like tracking how many times you lose with aces all-in. you don't need to do that and you're going to have to track tens of thousands of situations with aces all-in to get decently accurate win/loss percentage, and hundreds of thousands to get those numbers even more accurate.

it's a waste of your focus, time, and energy and you aren't going to prove anything with the small sample size you're likely to get. losing 5/7 times with aces all-in preflop is nothing.
 
Hard to get away from AA.

I think alot depends on when in the hand. I'll probably allows call an all preflop.

During the hand it'll depend on who my opponents are and what's already on the board.

Had a big ouchie happen during the league game last Monday...

Was delt pocket AA. Made a 3BB preflop raise from the hijack and got one caller. Fopped a set, on a rainbow board, and made another 3BB continuation bet. Opponent re-raised, so I re-raised back. Opponent then pushed all in. Easy call.

AAA vs JJJ (good position right? Opponent only had one out.)

Turn was a K, then that darn river the other J. ��*♀️

Just crap luck of the draw there... Such is poker lol.
 
Pre-flop you cannot fold unless the 8 other players are all in.
 
Oldstrings said:
A few times now I have got pocket aces to Queens, very early on in a tournament. And another player goes all in. I believe I almost always call. I seem to be losOmg more than I win.
Should I change my strategy and fold?
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I believe that regardless of the stage of the tournament, AA is a virtually unbeatable hand, in the beginning of the game, the only situation that I would not release is the call from the all-in, just the one you mentioned. Of course, preflop.
 
Pocket AA or KK I will never fold preflop early. QQ Maybe depending on the player, the position and how many all ins before me. But AA or KK I will never fold preflop early in a tournament
 
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