Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (4 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FCP)

UTG (t10123)
Button (t2562)
Hero (t6490)
BB (t825)

Preflop: Hero is SB with A , K .
UTG calls t400, Button calls t400, Hero completes

10 man $11 SNG so this is the bubble. I tend to play pretty straightforward in these but I've had a bit of FPS tonight (limping AA for example) though it's been working (I hate when FPS works). I limp here mostly because I'm hoping BB will push and all will call and we can bust him. Turns out to be the pivotal hand in the tourney but I won't spoil the fun with results just yet. Should I just be putting B all-in here and basically ignoring the bubble? Push and look to take the sizable hand down here?

I will limp with AK when I'm in the SB in a deep stacked tournament, but when the stacks are fairly short, raising to 3k is the play IMO. Even with the extenuating circumstances

If BB is that short, it might be time for a call.

BB is not all-in yet so I would raise with AK here and hope that UTG goes away.

I'm not too big on cooperating when I have a premium hand

I've got two calls in front of me. UTG isn't going away for anything reasonable. I like the complete. If BB pushes, then I hope for calls. Remember, we have premium drawing hand, not a premium hand. What happens if UTG comes over our raise?

Call, and hope to cooperate. I really think that's best with that hand.

In that scenario, I like the limp.

We are praying for the BB to push, but he has to know that he has no fold equity by doing so, so it is unlikely that he would without a premium hand.

I don't see the need to try to build a bigger pot OOP with a drawing hand. By playing small-ball poker here, we maximize our chances of making the money, and we are in a solid second position right now. Why risk that here?

BB is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he folds he'll have 425 facing the SB with 200/400 blinds. He almost has to call ATC and hope. With 825 he has no fold equity anyway. With 425 in the SB he'll have no fold equity. If he folds the SB he'll have 225 and no fold equity. In some ways a 4 way all-in is his best hope.

Ok...lets take the next step..you limp.

Assume BB pushes, UTG and Button smooth call.

Do you jam when it comes back around?

I absolutely love making that play with QQ+ when I know BB is going to push short stacked, but AK is vulnerable to any two cards from BB, so it is probably best to just to call with your unmade hand and try to knock out the BB.

However - If you think it is likely for UTG and/or button not to cooperate, I think it is wise to push when it comes back around.

Thoughts?

I don't hate the limp here.

A min-raise to 800 might be even better though. If the BB wants to play the hand, he'll push in for a 25 raise, which will prevent the other two players from reraising.

Another alternative would be to limp, hope for a push from BB, then you reraise enough to force Button to call all-in to stay in the hand.

I like this play ok,

Call- BB pushes, call, call you jam.

It puts a lot of dead money in the pot in a spot where you are probably even money with the BB or better. Screw the cooperation play, abuse the table.

I think the only reason to call here is hoping BB raises so you can reraise and Isolate. But the standard move is to raise here, and raise big.

BB pushes, call, call, I call

I figure:
1) if I hit I can check and hope B pushes
2) if I miss there's a good chance these guys are "co-operating" and checking it down where I could be good
3) if I miss and there's a lot of action I can dump the hand and likely maintain 2nd place

I thought about pushing after the calls but I'm not sure I have a lot of fold-equity at that point.

funny, i just did it for first time ever in tournament

2nd hand of FT(u can come rail me if u want)in a PS 180. i got lucky 2 ways though: someone raised with a hand I dominated and I held up.

my reasoning was that, since I was UTG, if I raised I would only get action from PP, where if I limp I may get aq/aj/kq to raise. either way im going all the way with the hand...and always play for top 3!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1600 (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

saw flop|saw showdown

Button (t15023)
SB (t31442)
BB (t55010)
Hero (t19001)
UTG+1 (t7597)
MP1 (t69210)
MP2 (t9014)
MP3 (t47113)
CO (t16590)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K, A.
Hero calls t1600, 6 folds, SB raises to t6000, 1 fold, Hero raises to t19001, SB calls t12926.

Flop: (t38452) 9, 7, 4 (2 players)

Turn: (t38452) 3 (2 players)

River: (t38452) 4 (2 players)

Final Pot: t38452

Results in white below:
SB has As Js (one pair, fours).
Hero has Ks Ac (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero wins t38452.

its funny with like 13 ppl left i just folded AK to a single raise, then I limp raise with it lol

I was in better chip position with 40k, a guy with 15k raises 5k when blinds are only 600-1200. he only raised once in past 20 mins and he showed KK, AND he was UTG here. i had AKoff on button and mucked instead of racing(i asummed) for 40% of my stack..

If you're going to take this line you should definitely be pushing here. You likely have better hands than the big stack or the button since they just limped in, and you should raise for value if nothing else. You don't really have to worry about bubbling here since the only way you'd get eliminated is if the big stack had you beat, and still lost to the shortstack.

Also, button may fold here for fear of bubbling and you can get a lot of dead money in the pot, and your raise is going to look scary to the big stack as well. With the stacks at this size, you should be more than willing to get all your money in with AK.

But at this point there's no side pot. I'm most likely ahead of the big stack and B but if BB has any pair I'm behind. If I push here UTG and B are likely to fold and I'm facing BB alone. It is in my interest to see BB go bust here. I don't know. Maybe I'm over thinking it. This result (pre-flop) is exactly what I was hoping for. Worst case I miss the flop - someone bet and I fold and BB is busted. Best case I hit the flop - someone UTG or B also hits and I build a nice side pot against them.