Now the exact details may be a little foggy, but this is a hand from the Reno Hiltion Poker Championship from season 3 I believe.


6 handed, Blinds at 10K/20K. (shit, might have been 5K/10K, but it doesn't really matter much)

Shortstack UTG moves all in for approx. 160K, fold, fold.

Button thinks for awhile and finally says, "Well, I came here to gamble" and pushes all-in for approx 270K.

sb has approx. 400K and has AKo.


Question #1:

Should the sb call?

Now from the button's comment, It really looks like he has a mid-low pocket pair, and it is very possible that the UTG player also has a pocket pair, or a weak ace.

Personally I think it is a pretty tough call, even though it is almost a sure thing that you are not greatly dominated (AA or KK).

You are getting about 1.7:1 on the call (depends what the blinds were exactly) Which means you have to be at least 37% to win the hand (correct?).


Before you continue, answer what you would do without knowing their cards.















Question #2:

It turned out that the UTG player had AJo, and the Button player had 77. Now if both players flipped up their cards and you could see what each player had, should you call?

It is a breakeven call (tcEV) for SB if you put the players on those ranges. Whether or not its right to call depends on other stacks, prize structure etc.

You are correct ....37%


Question II..those specific hands hurt sb's EV slightly, but most likely not enough to overcome the prize considerations.