AK is a premium starting hand. Only in bad shape vs AA and KK and you have blockers. The other players knows that you are on the bubble and is using this to his advantage. The only way to take that advantage away is to make the call. Folding is wrong in every way possible and a huge mistake here. This is to all the guys who posted on this thread, if you said to fold there you should really consider your goal for playing poker and reevaluate your thinking. If you are scared to bubble then fold, but doesn't seem right to me at all.
Jhuan Mattoso said:
easy fold for me, cause is better finished with cashes than nothing. 😀
But, few days ago , I ask this situation with Randy Lew aka nanonoko.
If you are in the bubble , you hold AK(s/o) on middle position and you had average chips in tables. The big stacks goes all in from UTG and small blind / big blind had same and less chips than you. what would you do ?
And his answer is " Easy call " because he said never fold with AK. Sometimes the big stakes wants to use bubbles to steal chips on the pot.
The answer here depends on whether you want to win the tournament or make the money. If you want to make the money, you fold. If you feel you want to go all the way, you always play premium hands and then accept whatever result happens.
Calling with AK here is standard. What are your goals in MTTs? To min-cash or to win. I always play to win. To me a min-cash is not a positive result.
But this is a general question. Is this an open shove or a 3bet or 4 bet shove. Those factors change your equity. In general, AK will have plenty of call equity against a standard open shove range to even call on the bubble.
Let's look at some math. Assume the ICM factor on the bubble is about 1.5:1 and a player make a shove from MP for 15BBs. You have to call 15 BBs to win 17.5 BBs. The value of your call adjusted for increased ICM pressure is about 22.5 BBs. So you need 56.3% equity to make this call.
Using Jennifear's charts, and the standard shove range from MP2, AK has 58%+ equity, so it is a profitable call even after taking ICM pressure into consideration.
But this is a general question. Is this an open shove or a 3bet or 4 bet shove. Those factors change your equity. In general, AK will have plenty of call equity against a standard open shove range to even call on the bubble.
Let's look at some math. Assume the ICM factor on the bubble is about 1.5:1 and a player make a shove from MP for 15BBs. You have to call 15 BBs to win 17.5 BBs. The value of your call adjusted for increased ICM pressure is about 22.5 BBs. So you need 56.3% equity to make this call.
Using Jennifear's charts, and the standard shove range from MP2, AK has 58%+ equity, so it is a profitable call even after taking ICM pressure into consideration.
ive had a lot of people tell me to open up your range in position close to the bubble and play pretty much anything as no one is going to risk losing any money that close to the money. ive always played really tight and min cashed and regretted not taking a chance and regretted not stealing blinds near the bubble. that's my 2 cents lol
This question is difficult to answer as it seems at first glance, then you need to consider several factors: whether you play on your bankroll? Are there behind you 100 or more buy ins for this tournament: if so, feel free to call him, because starting to play the tournaments you plan to win, not just to get into the prize zone of 1.5 - 2 buy ins for the same? And to win you need a large amount of chips and AK just the right hand to double my stack. But in the Stom case when buy-in tournament is pretty impressive of $ 100 or more I'd think about a fold
On the bubble with AK I am going to fold. Pre-flop I'm not even beating deuces, and if another player goes All in and he has me covered I know he is abusing the bubble but at this point there's nothing I can and will do about it. That's just the way the game goes. Remember, AK is nothing more than a drawing hand, and against any random pair you are slightly behind.
If you know this player is abusing the bubble, then you also know that AK beating their range as well, which is another reason you should be able to get in with AK.coachlary69 said:
Of course, this also depends on effective stack sizes, but if you're fairly short, say 25 BBs or less, getting it in with AK against a range you beat isn't a bad option.
It depends on what you want, if you want to make more money from that tournament you should call. If you just want to cash then you could fold and sit out.
I would definitely call, I like to go deep in tourneys, not just at the edge.
I would definitely call, I like to go deep in tourneys, not just at the edge.
The answer lies in what type of game you are playing. If you are playing a regular tournament, where the top few players get the lions share and then the pot shrinks rapidly to the bubble, then you should play as though it's any normal hand.... Regardless of the bubble, as the intention has to be to win the whole tournament, not just min cash.
If the tourney is one where all of the players after the bubble get the same amount, is a ticket to another game, is in a satellite, then you may wish to fold and live another. Hand to get past the bubble.
The simple thing to remember is there is generally no set way but whatever suits your strategy and the tournament in which you are playing.
If the tourney is one where all of the players after the bubble get the same amount, is a ticket to another game, is in a satellite, then you may wish to fold and live another. Hand to get past the bubble.
The simple thing to remember is there is generally no set way but whatever suits your strategy and the tournament in which you are playing.