Aces in the BB, deep in the money of a major online no limit tournament

Game type: No limit hold em tournament
Stage of tourney: 26/7000 remain
Avg stack: 2.7 million
Your image: Tight
Opponent’s image: Active
Your hand: A♦A♣

The setup: You’ve made a nice run deep into this tournament and now you’re well into the money. There’s not another jump until you break to two tables at 18.

Your opponent has been fairly active, raising the later positions regularly when he gets to open the pot. You’ve been very tight, nursing a solid but dwindling stack through a cold run of cards and a lot of action in front of you almost every hand.

You’re dealt aces in the BB and the table folds around to your opponent, who makes it 3x the BB from the hijack. The CO, button and SB fold. You have roughly 1.8 million behind to raise with.

What’s your preferred line in this spot?

11 COMMENTS (Jump to comment form)

anglegrinder

I voted for the min. raise. You are a huge favorite in this hand. But, there is a chance you could have your aces cracked. To minimize this chance, I think you want to force the hijack player to lay down the more speculative hands.
A min. raise is obvious, but the pot is big enough that a call from the hijack is reasonable. If he folds, you win a nice pot, if he calls, it is likely that he will call with some of the stronger hands he could be holding (KK-77, AK-AQ, or something like JTs-76s). Against the majority of these hands you are a huge favorite. If you just call, it allows some of the more speculative hands to enter the pot (AT-A2, 66-22, Two-gap cards, air) and makes it impossible to know where you are.

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John B.

I vote minimum raise, disagreeing about looking too obvious. Mr. E is the obvious one, with his frequent active raising near the button. I want the wimpy bet to make it appear that “Hey, I’ve had enough of this guy. I’m taking a stand!” representing something like AQ or a small to midsize pair. To me, all-in would be the “obvious” move, and he’d probably fold. No chips there! I don’t like calling here, either. It only gives him permission to chase anything, where as, because of my small raise, I want him to think more before he does anything “funny”.

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Sam

As often, I think that the most deceptive move would be paradoxically the most obvious one, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s why I voted raise all-in.
DonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t forget your M is only 6.5, so any other move will definitely arise suspicion.
What would you call with? Pocket pair, weak ace? With your stack, it just doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make sense.
LetÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s put it that way : say you have 88 instead of AA. Would you push or just call? I believe that you would push.
Imho, the push actually widens your range to any pp, any ace, two broadway cardsÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Plus, it has an extra benefit. If later on, you want to make a move, it will be much easier if you also push your monsters. If you flat call them and only push medium hands, you will be too predictable.

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matt tag

I voted call and lead flop.

I don’t like the call/checkraise because he could decide to check behind on a strong draw and now I’m giving him a free card, increasing the chances to crack me.

The raises are all ok- I agree with the min raise looking like you’re taking a stand, the all-in raise is fine as well with an M of 6.5. In the end I voted against them because of my tight image.

I finally chose call and lead flop because the call looks weaker than the raise, disguising my hand, and leading the flop looks like a c-bet, encouraging a raise. This choice gives the benefits of disguising my hand (a bit) while still denying the free cards.

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Joe B

He’s got QQ or KK – easy read.
call him, let the flop hit, then check raise him all in when he bets the flop for probe or value. You can get the extra bet out of him though – so let him see the flop and then take it down.
Pure matter of preference though on how you play A-A heads up, and they can all work depending on the texture and the opponent. Play the man on this one, not the cards (although you’re happy to have the option here!

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Mary

I keep forgetting the two part all -in move which may attract a call in this spot. Call the bet, see the flop, ponder, and then move in. You are in the same boat as if you had moved all-in before the flop, but now you are more likely to get the call. Of course, it could be the opponents flop, but who doesn’t want their money working with aces.

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Kevin

Agree with DHQ staff. call, and check raise the flop.

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Anonymous

I voted for the check raise…opponent is just looking for a way to give away his chips…so let him.

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drHoho

I go with the staff on this one. Perhaps if the flop really looks like the opponent hit or has lots of outs
When you know that you are only going to have one opponent, and your stack is that short, it is not the rigth time to worry about being outdrawn.

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drHoho

Oh, forgot to finish the sentence. Depending on the flop I migth lead out.

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Hachem

I like the min raise too. A call is likely. Then regardless of what hits I’m checking – hoping for him to take a stab at it. Unless something like KK or QQ is on the board (due to something like K-10 or QJ being a likely hand) I then re-raise all in. He’s committed and you’re playing for your whole stack more than likely still as a big favourite, as was the goal in the beginning.

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