Question for a bubble play I made...

[Coffee]

I'm playing in a Stars $20 tourney.

554 entered, paying 54. We are down to Hand-for-Hand(55). Blinds are 400/800 w/50 ante, average stack is ~14000...and I have ~2200.

I'm in the blind, and get dealt A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. A moderately LAGgish guy raises from middle position, and it folds around to me. After about 15 seconds, I LAY IT DOWN, and mention to the table that I'm laying down A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. Raiser shows K4 offsuit.

Now...debate breaks out, with one guy yelling at me that I HAD to call there, and two other players supporting his conclusion. I disagreed with him, with my thinking being that the flop is unpredictable, and even if I had him dominated(which I did), I still didn't want to run the risk that he would suck out, and I would bubble out.

Shortly thereafter, the other shortstack moved in and busted out, and I made the money.

So...results aside(because you can do the wrong thing in poker and get paid for it)...did I do the right thing in thinking that making the money was a higher priority than "going for the win," as these guys seemed to think?

[zmigsthatkid]

c'mon bro dont lay that down [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] seriously though

[JustPlayingSmart]

You're about 2-1 vs his range of hands if he's raising K4o. If you fold, you're guaranteed to make the money, since H4H isn't going to last a full orbit, and in this tourney you'll get $38 back. I'm not sure what your equity is if you win this pot (you'd have a little over 5k), but I think it's likely that calling is better than folding, even though you will bubble 1/3 of the time.

The more important thing is that it seems like your attitude is that you would rather make the money than go for the win. This means you might be missing some clearly +EV plays near the bubble because you are afraid of bubbling (like pushing a mediocre hand with 8xBB from the SB when it's folded to you).

If you fold here, you are going to have to fold your small blind (unless the bubble breaks this hand), which means you are down to about 1 blind, and you have very little chance of getting to the next payout level, let alone any real money. It sucks to bubble a tournament, but I don't think that means you should fold a hand as good as AQs here.

[mornelth]

it's a push for me.

Obviously, this guy figured out that you're trying to squeak into the money and is raising with close to any 2 here...

[betgo]

[ QUOTE ]


So...results aside(because you can do the wrong thing in poker and get paid for it)...did I do the right thing in thinking that making the money was a higher priority than "going for the win," as these guys seemed to think?

[/ QUOTE ]

It is not a matter of "going for the win". It is playing for serious prize money versus playing for $38 or whatever you get for cashing.

Incidently, you didn't make what was considered a bubble play. You made a weak/tight fold.