PokerStars - $2.28+$0.22|1000/2000 Ante 200 NL - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 9,704 (VPIP: 23.68, PFR: 14.29, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 38)
UTG: 39,619 (VPIP: 25.68, PFR: 20.00, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 75)
Hero (CO): 22,756
BTN: 14,794 (VPIP: 21.05, PFR: 28.57, 3Bet Preflop: 16.67, Hands: 19)
SB: 23,649 (VPIP: 19.23, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 10.00, Hands: 26)

5 players post ante of 200, SB posts SB 1,000, BB posts BB 2,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 4,000) Hero has A 9

UTG raises to 4,000, Hero??


Straight after

PokerStars - $2.28+$0.22|1250/2500 Ante 250 NL - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 18,258 (VPIP: 25.00, PFR: 13.79, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 40)
SB: 40,669 (VPIP: 26.32, PFR: 21.13, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 77)
Hero (BB): 22,306
UTG: 7,090 (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 31.25, 3Bet Preflop: 14.29, Hands: 21)
CO: 22,199 (VPIP: 17.86, PFR: 15.38, 3Bet Preflop: 8.33, Hands: 28)

5 players post ante of 250, SB posts SB 1,250, Hero posts BB 2,500

Pre Flop: (pot: 5,000) Hero has 7 A

fold, fold, BTN raises to 18,008 and is all-in, fold, [b]Hero???

Both spots are pretty close. I would shove the first and fold the second.

Isn't raise from UTG stronger than shove from the button? A9s vs A7s is just 3% in equity higher against top 20%. Or is it about folding equity against utg from the first spot?

I'd shove the first and call the second for sure

^ Me too.

Yes, Matteuszk, we assume we have fold equity in the first spot whereas the second spot we have ICM issues. But his min-raise does look suspicious into effective stacks of around 10BBs or less. Maybe he just looked at his own stack size.

Reasons for shoving A9s: 'UTG' in this spot is the HJ. His late-ish position combined with his stats (26/20 is pretty aggro) and huge stack means he's going to be opening very wide here. We still have plenty of fold equity with 11BBs (he's probably raising over 30-35% and calling about 10%) and A9s is still in decent shape sometimes when he calls with 44-77 and KQ.

Reasons for folding A7o (not A7s): This is a call in pure chip/ICM terms so I can't fault others for saying they'd call but personally I would fold because its for almost all our stack and A7o isn't strong enough against an unknown's range. (if he's shoving 25%, A7o is actually a 45% underdog). If villain was a reg who I knew was shoving over 50% then I would call but against an unknown I prefer to keep our 9BBs intact and use it to shove on others since we have plenty of fold equity, rather than gambling in a coinflip for our tournament life. A7o is so often dominated and even in the best case scenario (against A2o) it's only 48% to win.

The big difference between the hands is that in one we have a lot of fold equity and in the other we have none and have to go to showdown with a marginal hand.

Thanks to both of you! ;-)