I have AKs in the bb, 3rd hand of tournament, no rebuys. Middle pushes all in as first in. Zero incentive to do so, just being a donkey, my notes confirm. I call, he flops a straight with 98s. I have issues folding knowing I'm a favorite even if 60/40. Do you auto fold and wait until it matters more? It's in my blood not to do so

not enough information but lean call if villain is a donk

Just curious - was that in a Global Poker freeroll? I saw a hand just like that yesterday. AK vs 98s and came out 567. If so, I say just go ahead and call. If it is big buy-in tourney, I might fold (not sure if that is correct - but it also is unlikely to happen) because our upside to winning the hand is nowhere near the downside to losing. In a freeroll, if you lose, you can just walk away and not worry about it. I think I went out in about 85th place and made $2 - so you probably got better use of your time after losing that hand.

A lot is going to depend on the stack depth. In a turbo format where players start with, say, 50bb, you call and take your chances. But suppose we start out 500bb deep. there's 1.5bb in the pot before the shove. The villain's required fold equity is thus 500/501.5 = 99.7%, and you can fold everything but AA without being exploitable.

It turns out that if the stack depth is 110bb, then you can call with both AA and KK.

It would help you to learn key concepts of required fold equity and minimum defense frequency.

Alan is correct. If this is a bigger tourney or even a $50 or bigger online that starts with 300bb then I'm just folding all but AA and KK (if he shows me aces well that's just a terrible beat) and moving on. If it's a turbo or a freeroll as mentioned, I'm calling all day. I just feel these are literally the ole "gotcha" play with AA hoping somebody just tilt calls them for shoving first hand or literally some idiot just wanting to double up immediately because they think it's a big advantage to have more chips at the beginning.

edit: just to clarify, I'd fold KK in like the main event. A $200 at the local casino I'm not.

If this is a rebuy I would probably call.

If this is a freezeout you really really dont want to ever be calling in this spot. You could be flipping for your tournament life and if you double up, it does not drastically change your position in terms of winning the tournament. There comes a time when to flip and it is later on.

This is just wrong. What is the difference between rebuying in the current tournament and waiting for a new tournament with the same buyin and structure to start and registering for that? Answer - there is no difference. Therefore whether it’s a rebuy or freeze out tournament has no bearing on whether the decision is theoretically correct or not.

Obviously non-poker factors can come into play. If it’s a once in a lifetime shot at playing a WSOP ME and you took time off work, booked flights and hotel rooms, etc., you probably lean more toward folding in such a case in order to extend your experience. If it’s an online free roll or low buy in tournament that will happen again in another hour or two, then your “tournament life0 should not really be a consideration. Just take the +EV opportunity and if you lose, you lose. If it’s a freeze out then better luck in the next tournament.

This, with the obvious qualification of ICM considerations as the money approaches. (Third hand in, ICM is essentially a non-issue; chip EV is what matters.)