Laydown pre flop poll

[jjh]

OK, I'm sure I can predict what answer will get voted for the most, but interested nonetheless to see if anyone would lay the land down, given the situation.

$0.25/$0.50 NL, cash game. You bought in with $30 and have had a good game, building up a nice bank of $100.

You get dealt AA and player before you raises $2.50, this is a relatively strong raise for the table. You raise here with AA to $10- two more players call and then the player who raised initially goes all in.

Now the problem, he has more chips than you- so your call means your whole last 2 hours work and $70 profit to boot is going into one hand, before anyone has even seen the flop.

I voted I'd fold. This will get mocked I know but my reasons for folding are thus:-

1. Is it worth calling and risking it all in one go with 5 cards to come, anything could happen.

2. There are two more players still to make their play- if they call- just out of opportunity to win a big pot- they've already both committed $12.50 each so likely to call. AA against two or even three other players isn't as strong as I'd like.

3. This is only a cash game- there are no blind levels to worry about- you've got as long as you want to make a better hand before committing.

Player who has gone all in is likely to have AA- same as you split pot or maybe even KK- you're prob in a better position but risking all that hard work and profit pre flop- I don't like it.

I've actually just played this hand and didn't fold, I called, and the result was he had AA- one of the other players called with QQ and got trips on the flop and took the pot- he had only $45 dollars so didn't wipe us out, but still, the odds with AA aren't that great and I think in that situation again, I'd fold.

[Dice Man]

I think your argument for folding is actually just an argument for taking the money you'd already won off the table before the hand started. But seeing as you didn't I'd definitely be calling with this hand. If I just happened to have my whole bankroll on the table at that time then I would have to blame myself for being irresponsible with it. I think from this we should be able to conclude something like:

Never have so much money on a table that you're not willing to gamble it when you have the nuts. If you would fold in this situation in future then you should take money off the table straight away.

[jjh]

Wasn't nowheere near my bank roll Dice, just I didn't fancy risking it all in with top pair with a whole 5 cards to come. Having $100 at the table suits me because I'll risk it when I get the nuts- I know AA is pretty much the nuts, but with a potential 4 way pot, I don't fancy its chances too well.

If the other players had folded, then I would call everytime as it was likely I was up against AA or KK- but with two unknown factors, I couldn't really place the other two whether they would call or not (one did and won the pot) I think folding isn't as bad as it looks.

[jjh]

My point about keeping the money at the table has just been proved because I'm up to $140 now , so I'm not scared to bet- but AA here in this scenario gives me doubt.

[Dice Man]

Well in that case I see no reason whatsoever to fold. The guy with QQ is still a big underdog to you. And you don't just have "top pair", you have the nuts which is the important thing.
Regardless of the number of players in the hand, and regardless of whether somebody else has AA, you will always have the odds to put all your chips in with AA pre-flop.

Having said that, DannyC is online. A few months (years?) back there was a long thread where he argued for folding AA pre-flop in a cash game "because it's only top pair". As I recall everybody (rightfully) disagreed with him. I'm kind of busy right now but if nobody's linked back to that topic by the time I've finished I'll have a look for it.

[POB666]

All in Baby, u can turn a good session into a great session. Aces are often cracked but if u are not willing to go all in with aces, you should be plying pot limit or not have the money on the table in the first place

[Thor2007]

Get ya cash in with the best hand, if you don't do it, when it's obvious that you have the best hand, then you shouldn't be playing poker.

I'm all in!!

[trustme]

er.........all in

[Raiser]

1st April?

[jjh]

I knew I'd be in a minority- as happened- I did call and as mentioned, I'm not afraid to risk my stack if I'm involved in a big pot.

It was just seems silly to risk all that hard work in one go with top pair pre flop. I could put the initial raiser on a big pair, but the other players worried me as you can't really put them on anything with certainty- they never raised, just called.

AA pre flop is usually an all in hand if I'm able to get a player to call.

If it is a 2 way pot, I call everytime- but just the way the pot had developed, I feared (and rightly so) that at least one of the other players would make a call- AA 2 way is good for me- he raised all in (put him on AA, KK, or other high pair) but once 3 or more players, AA doesn't do too well IMO.

Anyone got any stats for the success rate of AA against 3 or more players pre flop? I might get a set of cards and try it best of 10 against KK and the other player holding unknown cards.

Post results in a bit

((Don't worry, not trying to convince anyone not to regard AA as highly as they do, as pre flop it is the nuts without a doubt...))