This hand popped up in a $5 STT, I know people tend to play crazier at this low level, but still just wondering if this was the right move. A friend told me that I should have folded my hand being so close to cashing, plus being 3/4 of my chip stack. I told him that if I would have won the hand, that I prolly just sealed 1st place also, so it was worth it I think, what do you all think? BTW I ended up coming in 3rd...

pokerstars Game #9003768166: Tournament #45773066, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2007/03/20 - 18:51:25 (ET)
Table '45773066 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: aopa911 (3275 in chips)
Seat 2: alecdent (4032 in chips)
Seat 4: phil_ivey453 (3415 in chips)
Seat 6: gnotorch (2778 in chips)
alecdent: posts small blind 75
phil_ivey453: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to alecdent [Kc Ah]
gnotorch: raises 2628 to 2778 and is all-in
aopa911: folds
alecdent: calls 2703
phil_ivey453: folds
*** FLOP *** [3c 8h 4h]
*** TURN *** [3c 8h 4h] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [3c 8h 4h 9s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
alecdent: shows [Kc Ah] (a pair of Nines)
gnotorch: shows [6c 6d] (two pair, Nines and Sixes)
gnotorch collected 5706 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5706 | Rake 0
Board [3c 8h 4h 9s 9h]
Seat 1: aopa911 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: alecdent (small blind) showed [Kc Ah] and lost with a pair of Nines
Seat 4: phil_ivey453 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: gnotorch showed [6c 6d] and won (5706) with two pair, Nines and Sixes

For starters was this player tight, loose, etc.? has he pushed all-in before now? More times than not I see players doing this with AK because they do not know how to proceed with it or not get outplayed when they whiff on the flop. My personal opinion is you are either in a tie or a slight underdog to a pair. Perhaps he is donkey enough to do this with AQ or AJ but the blinds are still pretty low. If you feel you are the best player on this table then fold and pound the other guys and hopefully catch him when you have a higher pair. If everyone has been real aggressive and showing down ace crap then i wouldnt fault the call. Congrats on getting IMO even though it wasnt first.

The thing about SNG's is that it's almost always wrong to call off your chips as an underdog, as with AK vs. 66. The issue is that the lack of equity you have in the pot is compounded by the semi-flat payout structure. Let me show you a little math:

AK vs. 66, in your exact situation -
- you have 45% equity in the pot
- if you lose you have 1254 chips left
- if you win you have 6960
- we'll assume that the BB folds 100% of the time that you call, for simplicities sake. Of course your ACTUAL equity will be a tad lower since he could overcall with hands like KK and AA, which are very bad for you.

So, in a vacuum ...
- if you call your equity is (55% x $5.62 [equity if you lose]) + (45% x $17.44 [equity if you win]), or $10.94 on average
- if you fold, and the BB folds, then your equity is $12.43

So, as you can see, in a vacuum you are giving up about $1.50 in equity in this exact situation by calling rather than folding. That may not SOUND significant, but since you are playing in a $5.50 game, we're talking about 27% of a buyin, so it IS significant.

Even if we expand a little, say we give him a jamming range of AQ+ and 22-QQ, assuming he would raise standard to get action with AA and KK, so you KNOW you're either a coinflip or a favorite against their hand, you still only have 49% equity in the pot, and your average equity becomes $11.76, still a decline over folding.

I hope that helps you to understand why it is generally a terrible idea to call with the intention of racing AS THE UNDERDOG. Of course, if you are the one with the pair, you are golden when someone calls you with AK.

It's two parts: equity of the hands in the current pot (the percentages) and the actual value of those chips calculated via ICM.

When he loses the hand, his equity is $5.62. That happens 55% of the time.
When he wins the hand, his equity is $17.44. That happens 45% of the time.

Obviously his equity is not equal to the sum of the two equities, but rather the sums of the product of the equity and frequency in which that equity occurs.

To really simplify, if we flip a coin and I agree that I will give you $1 if you win, but you must give me $2 if I win, then we get (.5 x $1 [the frequency in which I lose times the amount]) + (.5 x $2 [the frequency in which I win times the amount I win]).

My equity is $1.50 for every $1 I risk, based on that math, or, in other words, I expect to win $.50 on each flip of the coin in the long run.

Compare that to this: I flip a coin and lose $1, I flip a coin and win $2. Two trials, and my net is $2 - $1, or $1. So in two trials I net $1, meaning I net an average of $.5 per trial.

Oh and MysreriAce, is there a quick way to calculate the equity and all right then and there? My bad if it is a dumb question, just still a little confused about all the numbers, and would like to really get that down, articles on it would be great. I'm going looking right now.....

keep it basic..blinds are still v small in comparison to your stack and at best you are 50/50 i dont see a need at that exact point to make the call.if it was a turbo and blinds 400-800 say then easy push. but at that moment you were in control and there will be better spots

A quick question, if you play the turbos where the blinds will get up to 200-400 4 and even 5 handed so that all players have 10BB or less, how do you feel about callin with AK there?

I would think in poker stove you'd run through 22-AA, KT-AK, QJ, Ax and maybe some suited connectors.

In that situation I'd think AK would be an easy call with the blinds that big.

I just ran the numbers on a marginal call that I made.

Called an allin pusher for 2.5x the BB, I was in the BB with a stack of a little over 7BB after I posted. It folded around to me and I was getting 2.3:1 to call with a total junk had, turns out I was dominated which makes it a bad call, but the range of hands he has to push with there I give myself about 65/35 as the dog and it was ever so slightly positive on the ICM calcs.

Bsically I think to simplify (correct me if I'm wrong here), if you are getting better than 2.5:1 to call, it's almost always correct to call.

But calling allins with less than 2:1 with anything other than a big pocket pair is pretty silly, unless your opponents play indicates that he may be pushing with a near random hand.