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Recently, I played in a PokerStars $50+$5 NLH Tournament. While playing in this tournament, I made a pretty deep run for the money and I played what I considered to be some pretty good poker. An issue that came up during the tournament, was my ability to fold some pretty big hands pre-flop, and my inability to shove pre-flop with drawing hands. I've outlined a few hands below for your review.

Honestly, I understand the concept of being "pot committed". I also understand the concept of shoving, to try and take down the SB, BB, and antes. But, I also understand the concept of surviving in a tourney, to climb the money ladder as high as possible. As I've stated before, I'm an amateur poker player, who enjoys the challenges of making tough decisions and playing as near perfect poker as possible at the table. You may agree with my opinions, and you may not. That's the beauty of poker! It's your money, and you can play with your hard earned money, however you like! If you have any comments on the below hands, please feel free to share them with me, as I'm always looking for new information to learn from.
Big Hand #1
In this hand, we're down to about 50 or so players. The blinds are 2.5K/5K and antes are 500. Before the cards come out, there's 11K in the pot. Seat 1, is sitting on 212,202 in chips. I'm in seat 2 with 72,806 in chips. Seat 3 has 161,372 in chips. Seat 4 has 85,270 in chips. Seat 5 has 181,800 in chips. Seat 7 has 78,276 in chips. Seat 8 has 60,236 in chips. Seat 9 has 75,332 in chips. As you can see, we have 2 people at this table with huge stacks and one false move and I can be put out. I've been playing pretty standard poker, raising 3x's the BB with hands like AK, AQ, and high pairs, etc...etc... On this particular hand, I get dealt AK off-suit. A good starting hand, but do I want to risk my tournament life on it, pre-flop? Would you want to?

Anyway, seats 7 and 8 are the SB and BB. The pot gets raised UTG by Seat 9 (75,332 in chips) to 20K and I call. If someone UTG is raising pre-flop, you have to give them credit for a hand, no? Seat 8 (60,236 in chips) acts after me, and goes all-in. Seat 9 goes all-in as well, and I'm sitting on AK? What would you do?

At best, I would be 50/50, up against any random pair. If someone has AA's, I'm drawing dead. If someone has KK's, I'm drawing to a 3 outer, and with 2 people all in, one of my Aces that I would need to draw to, could very well already be used, no? So with AK, I muck it and decide to let the 2 players battle it out. What do they turn over? Seat 9 had 99's, which I figured on a pair, and seat 8 showed QT off-suit. The flop came 7h 8c Tc. Giving seat 8 a pair of 10's, but giving seat 9 an open ended straight draw, and 10 outs. The turn was a 2s, and the river brought the Jc, making the straight.

Had I called, I would've never improved my hand, and I'd a been left cursing AK for not hitting. At the conclusion of this hand, I mentioned how I had laid down AK. Some observers were appalled at the fact that I folded AK, and they started making rude comments about my play. With so many people left to act behind me, I felt that calling with AK, was the best option I had, to see what everyone behind me was going to do. This would give me an indication of the strength of everyone's hands. With 2 people going all-in preflop, I just didn't feel that AK was going to be good enough to win the hand, and it proved not to be. Anyway, I found myself being the subject of criticism, and defending my reasoning.

My goal in a tournament is to fight with every last dying breath that I have, and go as deep as possible into the money, if not win the whole damn thing. Some people feel that if they're not in a position to win the tournament, than making the money doesn't matter. That's definately not my perception, as ANY time you make the money, your adding to your bankroll.

Under different circumstances, I probably would've pushed all-in with AK. This time I just didn't feel it, and my decision allowed me to move up the money ladder. Granted, it wasn't life changing money I was winning, but I proved to have the ability and discipline to lay down a hand, which allowed me to finish higher than what I would've, had I pushed all-in with AK. What do you think about this?

Big Hand #2
<SPAN lang=EN>In this hand, you guessed it! I got dealt AK AGAIN, and I mucked it. Here's why....

Seat 1 has 220,702 in chips. I'm in seat 2 with 86,806 in chips. Seat 3 has 108,664 in chips, seat 4 has 93,770 in chips, seat 5 has 160,400 in chips, seat 6 has 63,908 in chips, seat 7 has 88,056 in chips, seat 8 has 63,636 in chips, and seat 9 has 41,352 in chips. Seats 9 and 1 are the SB and BB. Blinds are 2K/4K, with a 400 ante, putting 9,600 in the pot before cards are dealt. </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN>
I'm UTG, and I get dealt Ac Kh. I raise the standard amount of 3x's the BB of 4K to make it 12K to go. Everyone folds to seat 8 and he raises 51236 to 63236 and is all-in. This guy could have a pair, he might be weaker than me, and if I call, I still need to hit. It's not an "insta-call" with say hands like 10's, JJ's or better. If I have those hands, I definately call, and whatever the outcome is, I can accept it. If this guy has less chips, say about 30K, maybe even 40K, I'd only be risking about .5 of my chips, giving me the proper odds to call, since I'd only be 50/50 to win anyway, right? But I'm not getting the proper odds, in my opinion. Who knows? Maybe I have this odds thing all backwards or something. That wouldn't be a surprise, since I'm a novice.

Anyway, if I call this guy, again, at best I'm 50/50 to win, and I'm risking a HUGE portion of my stack on a drawing hand. If I don't hit, I'm going to be absolutely crippled for the rest of the tournament. I figure I should cut my losses and serender the 12K. I still have about 74K left in chips to fight another day, no? What would you have done?
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