The following hand came up about a month and a half ago and it is still bothering me today. I was in a $1,000 satelie with 75 people and 7 get a WPF buy-in (at foxwoods). There were 11 people left and I would say I had a slightly above avg. stack maybe more since I had both players covered in this hand.
Middle position guy from Ohio or something goes all in with blinds 2k-4k for about 12,000.
Button goes all in for about 13,000
I'm in the big blind with QQ (I would of laid down jacks and lower and any ace this late in the tournament seeing as though their was already a caller. I call and have 1k left.

Flop 2 4 8 turn 5 river 3

Both catch straights and leave me with a priceless look on my face I can imagine. COuld I of done anything differently, and what type of player goes all in in middle position with over 10k in chips with q 6!!!

To be honest I think you lay that down. Satellite strategy is totally different than regular tournament strategy when you get down close to the "money".

Chips not lost in a satellite are more important than chips gained when you have an above average stack like you say you did

I never said what they had lol. Oroginal All in had q 6 and caller had ace 9 off

Sorry I'm playing in a sat online right now so my posts have been all over. That situation was really tough because you did only have them covered by 1k.

I tend to play conservative in sats (when facing calls, not pushing) when you get down near the money, and I think you could have picked a better spot than that because you were so close to making it. That's just my opinion :-)

Im still trying to figure out this average chips thing. How many chips did each person start with?

I think if you could fold your big blind and still have about an average stack (i think you would ahve had around 11000 left) then I would fold. If its a non satelite tourney then its a pretty easy call unless you have a sick read on one of the players, but if you're up against a rag ace and an underpair you're only about 50-50 to win here, I'd dump the hand, let one of the two cripple the other and move on, especially since you just paid your big blind, and still have a decent sized stack while everyone else has yet to pay theirs for this round.

Although, I can not argue with the strategy of folding in this situation because in hindsight it was the correct play I must say that gettting all of my money in with a chance to eliminate two players with a premium hand seemed reasonable. My read was an underpair and a decent ace, the guy had q 6 and the other player had a 9 im looking to dodge 3 cards to triple up and get my 10,000 seat. If you had known that these players had q6 and A 9 would you of folded?

it doesnt change the odds that much. against an underpair and a rag ace you're about 55% to win, and in your case you were about 63% to win, that still means 1/3 times you're gone. I still like the fold here, though its hard to tell unless we know the stack sizes of everyone remaining in the touney, if there are enough other short stacks I would say fold, and let the other shortstacks have to face the blinds while you look for a better spot.

If I am playing for position then I would probably lay it down hoping that they dont end up with a chopped pot, its always easier to let other people knock each other out, If this had happened after the flop I might have a harder time letting go.

Its definitely close. Its a tough decision. It also depends on how many chips the other players have. If you are 3rd to last in chips right ahead of these guys, you should consider calling. If you can save yourself enough chips to play I think you do that.

3 handed having to call an all in with QQ in a satellite for your entire tournament life basically I dont think you do it

Well I guess your all pretty much right. If you weren't right it probably wouldnt of been bothering me for this long. I had very very strict starting hand requirements and unfortunately I got what I was looking for in a 3 handed all in pot and got a bad beat. Considering how much that 10k seat meant to me I guess I had to lay that down. Thanks for the advice but every situation is different who knows if that situation came up again what I would do, one thing is for sure is that I wouldnt get beat by q6 and ace 9 runner runner straight by donkeys. Of course we are analyzing me for calling with QQ, but what about the donk pushing with q 6 and another donk calling with a 9

I can understand the q6 push if people at the table are playing very tight, he was also shortstacked and probably coming up to the blinds soon. I can understand the A9 call, since he probably figured the first guy for a steal, but I don't think I would have called with the a9, since you're going to be at best a 2-1 favorite unless you have him dominated, and if you lose you're either crippled or out.

Easy laydown when 2 people are All-In and your staring at Queens, I'd even probably fold Kings in this spot, there's just no reason to get involved in a satellite situation where placing in the Top 7 is the important thing, it doesn't matter if you have 1 chip or a million chips, as long as you finish in the Top 7, you get the same prize as anyone else ahead or behind you in chip counts.

In a cash game or tournament the play is right. However since you were playing a sattelite your main goal is to win a seat. Laying down queens is tough but you can't risk your entire stack especially when there are other players who are shorter stacked.

The Q6 pushing as first in is standard play with an M of 2. Like another poster Im having trouble with your stack size. Act III's started with fairly deep stacks...$3500 or so...so its a bit confusing that you could be above average with only $14k, and that makes a big difference.

But, if your M is really only 2 AND you are above average calling with QQ is a no brainer. That means there are some very deep stacks out there and its a war of attrition amongst the small stacks. The just above the bubble stacks are not calling anything, their chips are too valuable to risk, and you are going to be facing small stack all-ins the rest of the way in.

If the big stacks clearly arent going to challenge then you have to play your good hands against the small stacks. The A9 calls because he's against an auto-push from a first hand in and is well above average to a random hand. You could just as easily have found yourself facing split Aces and a strong favorite in this hand.

Tripling up puts you in a very comfortable spot and answers here that you could possibly fold QQ are looking at the results. You played the hand right, it just didnt work out.

I think you have to call against two short stacks, if you win this hand you can probably cruise into the money. It is a bad beat

I'd fall over myself getting my money in as a 63% favorite. What kind of edge are you looking for? Not to mention, even if you get a better edge how are you going to get two players all-in? If you pass up 63% to win, you're not getting that seat very often.

I don't see how this could be a fold.

How quick was this tournament structure? It seems pretty ridiculous that you had an average stack which was just over 3 big blinds...

It wasnt quick at all, I played in an ACT III at about the same time, which is why I had confusion about the average stack being so low. I double checked and the starting stacks were $5000, blinds increased every 20 minutes, a little quick but not bad for a satellite that starts with 1o0x the BB.


So with 75 runners and 11 left the average stack was 34,000. and poster started with 18500 or so...half the average. Also, when the blinds were 2k/4k as OP said, there were antes of $500, so his M was right around 2.

Fold with a 14k stack, 2500 in blinds and antes next hand bring you down to 11,500. With the initial pot of 9000 any all in should be autocalled. Win this and your well above average stack. Folding QQ here would be certifiably insane.