TO LIVE AND DIE WITH AK

It's a hand I will always play, but not always the same way. It is true that your tournament success basically hinges on your AK hands - how much you lose with it, and how often it connects. Yesterday, I was hours into a $100 tournament that began with 410 players. The final table was where the money was, with the winner pocketing over ten grand. Places 11-20 all paid $410. I had a below average stack, but enough to wait for top hands.

The player to my right was making a habit of limping in to see a flop. He limped in early position, which got my spidey sense tingling, but there I was with AK in second position, a hand I've got to play. Now, the age old question - do I call or raise? I could call and play it safe, but that might invite more players to enter the pot, and would allow the big blind in for free. Big Slick is a hand best played heads-up, so I decided to squeeze out the competition by making a mid-sized raise. He had more chips than I, so he could put the pressure on with an all-in reraise. I made my raise relatively small, hoping for either a call or fold.

Of course, he comes back all in and now I'm stuck. I know he has a relatively high pair (or hopefully AK like me), but I am getting good odds for a coin flip situation, so I make the call and die to his QQ. After busting out 18th, with ten grand sitting on the table for first place, I immediately began second-guessing myself. If I had simply called in that position, even taking on the added risk of a multiway pot, I could have gotten away from the hand when I didn't flop to it. I didn't need to put myself in position to risk my tournament life on a coin flip situation. Especially, since going all in with AK is a move you make to offset unfavorable position. I would have had position on both this guy and the big blind, so I should have allowed a flop. AK is a great starting hand, but it is not a made hand. It must improve to win usually. I should have taken a flop which would have given me 3/5 of a chance to improve. Being in position, I likely could have gotten a free shot at improving on the turn. I would have lost $2000 on the hand, but would have still been in position to make the final table and earn some real money.