I'm chip leader facing 2 AIs in the BB.

[CardSharpCook]

Final table, 10 handed. I have 150k of 490k total chips in play. 2nd probably has around 80-90k.

Folded to HJ who pushes for 30k at the 3k/6k/600 level. SB push/calls for 30k. How wide should my range be? That's 72k in the pot and 24k to call. I end up making a call that I thought was annoying, but obvious given the pot odds, their hand ranges, and the affordability to my stack.

SB is a kid who seems to know whats what in tourney poker. HJ is a tourney donkey, but I don't know too much about his play. What are you folding, what do you see as their ranges?

[sah_24]

i prolly call here wit a pretty wide range any pair as well as most suited connectors and up of course. I put the HJ on something like aX or KQs and on. I think the small blind has a slightly better hand then does the HJ something like a small pair or ak to aj.

Im pretty young so probably wrong but wit ur lead and getn that price i think id call wit a pretty wide range bc if u lose ur down to 120k and still in the lead so for that price and that i action im callin pretty liberally

[CardSharpCook]

So what do you do with KTo? A3o? Are you calling with 43s? 9To?

[BIG NIGE]

Fold all of those hands. The SB has to be dominating them to make that call. You don't want to be all-in in a situation which is slightly +ev in terms of chips, but in which most of the time you'll end up losing the hand and 1/6 of your stack. Adding to your troubles is the fact that the blinds are very high compared to stack sizes. If the blinds were 600/1200 and the other two players were all in for 6K, you could maybe call with more hands. But all of the hands you mentioned should be folded. I would definitely call with AT+ and 77+. I might call with lower pairs but the problem is, especially with the hijack having a very wide range, that you could be up against four overcards, and that's definitely a bad situation. A9 and KQ are also possible calls, it really depends on how tight the SB is because he is the player you have to worry about the most. Being in the small blind, was under no obligation to call off all his chips without a relatively strong holding, so you either need to be at worst a slight underdog to him (for instance, KQ vs AT) in order to justify calling.

[moneyinbag]

I completely agree with the above post!! The thing we have to keep in mind is that it is 1/6 of your stack.

[sah_24]

im foldin k10 43s but 910o and any decent hand where i think i got two lives say 79s or 810 im prolly gonna gamble if u lose u still have the chip lead. the reason i dont call wit k 10 or somethin similar to that is bc ur prolly dominated but if u can get it in wit 2 lives wit those odds no choice

AND IF UR WRONG UR STILL THE CHIP LEADER

[moneyinbag]

calling with two live under cards like 79s is worse imo than calling with low pair and worse than calling wit KT. You not have to only hit your pair but there is a chance someone has a higher pair and you could be facing four overcards.

[CardSharpCook]

Do not get stuck in the rut of thinking, "my cards are likely dominated." You've got to put them on a range of hands, not say, "oh well, they raised, so they likely have an ace.." KT would be a money printer vs. 33 and 99. It also fares pretty well vs. AQ and 88. The point isn't that we should hope for these types of holdings, but that we shouldn't jump to, "its better to call with 79 than KT, because they are more likely to hold a king." While that is a true statement, the king still holds more value than the 9.

In this situation I was more interested in looking for any hand that had 25% equity. Throwing away 24k for the 25% chance of having an aditional 72k in my hand seems valuable.

75% = 120k
fold = 144k
25% = 216k

The differences btwn those stack sizes are worth the risk imo.

Much earlier in the tourney I saw a guy limp UTG, guy goes AI for 6BB, SB calls, and UTG limper folds. After the hand he says, "MAN!!! I would have hit TWO PAIR!!! I would have CALLED if the SB had FOLDED!!!!" This thinking seems completely backwards to me. With a hand like his (Q9s), he needs to improve to win anyway, so why not have more money in the pot to win if he hits?