AA early in tournament - best way to proceed

[goose023]

Maybe it's just because I've been getting my ass kicked with AA lately, but I was just wondering what others do early on in a tourney when the blinds are low.

It seems that anything other than a shove/bet of 250xBB is getting called by people "hoping to get lucky".

I have tried numerous things - limp/wait for raise - raise 5-10xBB - shove etc.

I think mainly I'm frustrated by the donkeys calling a 5xBB raise with J2 because it was suited (or some other great hand) because "it only cost 100 chips."

[benneh]

i raise 3-4x the big blind (+1 for each limper) and proceed accordingly on the flop.

[goose023]

[ QUOTE ]
i raise 3-4x the big blind (+1 for each limper) and proceed accordingly on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tried this too [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Again it could be me just being a little bit negative about AA early on - I literally had a guy call a 10xBB raise w/K2os - flop K62 rainbow - continuation bet and he pushes - I fold figuring he made a set and he shows his sh!t hand.

[donquay]

I love when people make ridiculous preflop calls like that...sure there'll be times where they suck out...but those same players are ones who'll probably stack off with just top pair

[TroutMaskReplica]

[ QUOTE ]
Again it could be me just being a little bit negative about AA early on - I literally had a guy call a 10xBB raise w/K2os - flop K62 rainbow - continuation bet and he pushes - I fold figuring he made a set and he shows his sh!t hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

folding there is terrible btw

[goose023]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Again it could be me just being a little bit negative about AA early on - I literally had a guy call a 10xBB raise w/K2os - flop K62 rainbow - continuation bet and he pushes - I fold figuring he made a set and he shows his sh!t hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

folding there is terrible btw

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on if you want to go broke in the second level of a tournament, and every time he did this (4 times in the past 2 orbits) he had 2 pair or better - and had busted each player overplaying top pair.

[Cleverbeans]

[ QUOTE ]
Depends on if you want to go broke in the second level of a tournament, and every time he did this (4 times in the past 2 orbits) he had 2 pair or better - and had busted each player overplaying top pair.

[/ QUOTE ]

If I'm going to go broke, this is when I want to do it, so I don't invest a ton of time just to go broke on the bubble. You might have felt you had a good read on this guy, but 90% of the time you're up against AK, KQ, KJ or some other weak hand especially if you're at a level where 10XBB raises get called with K2.

Also, if you want to be able to let go AA after the flop, then don't raise so much preflop. You've invested a lot in the hand just to let it go, so try to keep the raises more reasonable so you can let go with less sting.

In the early levels when a lot of 3X raises are getting called I raise 4-5X depending on position and then c-bet on the flop. I'm never folding to one all-in on a rainbow flop, if the board was monotone and I didn't have the right A and there was an all-in and a call in front of me, I can probably let go. Otherwise, call, say "nice hit, gl all" and load up another.

[Win.by.TKo]

If you have played this level of tourney before and have seen the majority of players call AI bets p/f, then I'd be tempted to just push w/ AA.

Outside of that, a 4xBB+1BB/limper bet would be my normal play.

[levAA]

[ QUOTE ]
I think mainly I'm frustrated by the donkeys calling a 5xBB raise with J2 because it was suited (or some other great hand) because "it only cost 100 chips."

[/ QUOTE ]

you should be happy about them:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 87.360% 87.14% 00.22% 143240424 362652.00 { AA }
Hand 1: 12.640% 12.42% 00.22% 20415456 362652.00 { J2s, J2o }


__________________________________________________ ________

Early on I always raise AA and never limp.
You want to be called/raised here.
So look for the ammount that gets called on the table - if it's 5xBB fine - 10xBB also fine.
In the low buy-ins you will face a bunch of callers often - that doesn't matter - don't forget they need at least two pairs to beat you.
Reorientate on the flop - be carefull with possible flushes, cause early on they play ATsC and bet out for value.
One of the most difficult things to learn is the ability to lay down the rockets if the board looks bad and you are up against heavy resistance.

[black666]

I love it when people call my raises with J2!

Also, just because you've got AA doesn't mean you win the hand 100% of the time. If the action is wild and the board dangerous, there is no shame in laying down an overpair (especially when half the table is seeing the flop)