3 AQo hands for Sunday Million Satellite

[Blackluck]

I don't have the HH handy, it's on my home PC. But I've been pondering these hands and I'm wondering if I'm being far too tight.
It's a FPP satellite for Sunday Millions, 12 'pay', 34 get their FPP's back (500=>half of mine. For the past 4-6 wks playing primarily SNG's I've been running badly, can't win any races, can't even when when I'm 70+% favorite etc etc et al ad nauseum.)

I'll try to recall as best as I can chip sizes/blinds:

Very early: 10/20.
Small Blind. I have 1800.
AQo in the small blinds, folds to me. I raise to 90.
BB has just over 1000 chips and pushes all in.

Most of the time when I see short stacked blind pushes they have seem to have small pairs (44--66), Kxs, or Ax.
I fold though, too early to gamble I'm thinking.

Late early/early mid: 75/150. I have 2400 there abouts. Really have gone all but card dead (and would for the most part remain card dead for the rest of the tourney.) I've played 15% of my hands.

AQo UTG. I raise 2.5, UTG+1 (CL, both table and tourny, guy has yet to lose a hand but is not a maniac, although he has called some all ins with medium pairs and sucked out) reraises to 900.
I fold.

"ITM" Bubble (i.e. were at 40 players, 34 players get 'paid'): We're hand to hand, half the table has around 10-15x BB, including me. I've managed to stick around this long by stealing blinds or having the table fold to my all ins, but I cannot get a run going and remain towards the bottom of the tourney.

Blinds are 600.
AQo in the BB. Folds around to SB, who has a few hundred chips less than me and has been playing just as tight pushes.
I think for a looong time. I fold. He shows 44.

(I end up going out in 30th, when my QJ push ran into Kings.)

[illini43]

Hand 1) If you figure you are up against a small pocket pair or Kx/Ax this is an incorrect fold. You need chips in these satellites anywhere you can get them, and this is a good spot to get your chips in ahead.

Hand 2) Raise more preflop, 2.5 is too small to get any 'respect' at this blind level. If the re-raiser has been super aggro, I might push.

Hand 3) This should be an insta-call here. Why enter the tournament if you only want your 500 FPP buy-in back? If you are that concerned about making it, don't buy into the tournament to begin with!

These three hands have illustrated some weak-tight play. You can't always be afraid of better hands. Also, NO PLAYER is too good to pass up any edges throughout the course of a tournament. Folding AQo in a blind battle because "you don't feel like gambling" is a terrible reason to fold.

[b-komplex]

hand 1 since he's down 500 chips in level 1 I'll assume he's a donkey/tilting and you are way ahead of his pushing range here. snapcall.

hand 2 there's what like 1400 in the pot and you have ~2000 back? I'm too lazy to stove it but I suspect a push is correct if his range in AQ, TT+.

hand 3 is a jump-out-of-your-seat-snap-call.

Sounds like you are in a bit of a rut and you might need to consider what you can do to break out of it...

[BarryLyndon]

This is a combination of a really hardcore whine and a decent strategy post with a few hands that you ultimately should know what to do with. Results orientated thinking should not be a part of your arsenal with basic AQ decisions:

1. Call. Whatever the [censored] this is, his range is too big to let this one go. I know the blinds are small, but I don't think he does/cares.

2. Folding here is perfectly fine because: 1. This is a reraise, so his range is much smaller; 2. It's from UTG+1; 3. do you have a RR range with this guy here?; 4. You are up against AK and QQ+ too often here - players of his ilk would probably just CALL with AJo or A10 or KQ; 5. With AK, it's an easy call, not with AQ; 6. FE really doesn't matter here, however, you have none, and FE will make a difference later...so you can guarantee lots and lots of chips later on by push-botting (which you did, I think).

3. OMGWTFareyouthinking about? Oh dear - time to take a break from poker. Seriously - if you are folding AQo on a SB all-in this late in a tournament, you need to take a break and watch some TV / movies / go out. You're too depressed right now, as your post more than amply indicates. If you want to lose $$ fast / tilt off, I'd much rather you play some PLO for an hour (I did last night [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ), than play NL hold'em like this for another two weeks. Break time.

Barry

[Blackluck]

Thanks for the honest and spot on feedback, much appreciated. As observed, poker break coming up [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]