Hey guys, I just wanted to check in on this hand that I played. I had ATs UTG and I folded. The reason being was it felt like it was too risky to jam UTG here, when I am 5th out of 6th place. Raising 2x didn't seem right as any of the bigger stacks could have played in position to force me out or 3bet me preflop to put pressure on me.

The pay bump was almost $200 so I just didn't want to bust here. Is this a mistake in my thought process. The payouts were as follow:

1 - $2,420
2 - $1,720
3 - $1,300
4 - $880
5 - $620
6 - $450

PokerStars - 125000/250000 Ante 30000 NL - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 15.52 BB
CO: 8.9 BB
BTN: 81.76 BB
SB: 29.86 BB
BB: 46.67 BB
Hero (UTG): 12.17 BB

6 players post ante of 0.12 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.22 BB) Hero has T A

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to 2.15 BB, fold, fold

BTN wins 3.22 BB

I jam here 100% of the time. You need to chip up to win, and have a premium hand 6 handed. Most likely result is you win the blinds, which is big at 12 bbs. Sometimes you run into a monster behind you, but you lack the chips to wait, as only CO is shorter.

Ya I hear you. In terms of playing for the win or a top 3 prize jamming the 12BBs seems like the right play. I was probably giving too much value to the ladder up, which is a decent amount considering an $11 buy in, but it is small relative to those upper end payouts.

I would jam here as well. Playing anything under 15 blinds for me is a jam at this point. Maybe if CO had <= 2 blinds I would fold ATs because CO would have just until they were BB/SB again to survive.

Personally I am always trying to finish up near the top in a tournament so increasing my stack is almost always more important than going up the ladder. Here there is an increase of $170 to outlast the CO but vaulting over MP would add $430.

Good point man. 6th place stack is still healthy enough that it's not worth waiting out. Ya maybe the fold is a stronger consideration if he is surely going out in a few hands.

+1 for jam.

Jam seems to be the correct play here. I will admit the payouts had me playing a bit more timid. I recently cashed out a large amount of my bankroll and left myself a small amount to build back up. A $200 pay bump would have been about a 20% increase.

I just need to get myself in these larger pressure end game positions more often. I have been at final tables with a chance to end up with more than $1K, but I have ended up with less than that in the few chances I have gotten. I just need to get over that hump so it won't be such a focal point for me in the future.

Yeah, it's scary especially UTG (even 6-handed), but you have an ace with a good kicker and you're suited. You block the Ax calling hands and you can make straights and flushes if you get called. I think it's too good to fold here.

While ICM and the pay ladder dictate we not bust ourselves needlessly, we have to acquire chips to stay in the tournament, and ICM also dictates we want to maximize our fold equity. So we adjust our range to more hands with blockers and we take lines designed to fold out other players. There are still some hands you can raise/fold even at this depth but I think with something as strong as ATs you're risking getting bluff-raised off by worse hands.

So at 12BB with ATs UTG/6, all that still adds up to a shove for me, I think.

(Or maybe the "virtual all-in" where we raise enough to commit ourselves against one opponent but can fold if multiple people get all-in behind us. That actually happened to me Sunday and I laddered two spots by folding, ha. Although I wish I'd raised closer to half my stack instead of 2/3.)

Ah ok, the virtual all in is an interesting given the large pay bump. Ya that would seem tricky in that you want to raise big enough to look like no one else can push you out, but at the same time you'd like to have somewhat of a stack left should you see two straight all ins.

I also jam. Figure the big stack is often playing the bully and I'm ahead a lot. When I'm not, I'm not in too bad of shape a lot, blocking better aces. But I also figure to bust a lot to made hands. Oh well.

I guess some of the internal calculation needs to be, "how much does potentially moving up one spot mean to me?" If the $170 jump is meaningful, maybe it's better for your particular situation to play tight. But in terms of play in a vacuum, I think shove is the right play.

Yeah if you even raised to 4-5 BB that would probably be enough for these purposes.

I actually think hands in this general category (like our good suited Ax/Kx) fit into that 1/2 stack raise range you sometimes see in final table ICM sims. As suggested above, we can open for half our stack, call off against the shorty but fold if the action goes crazy behind us.

What do we do if we get called and miss the flop?
Is it similar to a "stop and go" where we would shove the flop and hope the caller also missed?

I guess if the caller is one of the blinds and pulls a "reverse stop and go" (aka they put us all-in on the flop) we have to fold if we miss entirely (no draw)?

Hey guys.

Where are you drawing the line here?
Jam vs r/f or even r/c?

At how many bb are you not jamming here?