I thought it would never happen to me but I folded aces before the flop . No, I didn't misclick the mouse or anything.

I was playing in a tournament where 1st thru 5th place all got paid the same amount (Entry into a Tournament in Europe). There were 6 people left, two of which barely had enough chips to cover the blinds and I was the chipleader with a mountain of chips.

I picked up ACE ACE under the gun, and decided folding was actually the best option, no need to get a bad beat, I was a virtual lock for finishing 1st-5th with two players hanging on by their fingernails.

Has anyone else had the unusual situation of folding Kings or Aces before the flop???


Jason

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I read the title and I was thinking you never fold aces pre-flop...

...but then I read the full post and you actually made a pretty smart play. If 1st to 5th get exactly the same thing and you were chip leader, why not let the bottom two fight it out and you just coast in for the win.

I've been in a tournament like this before where everyone got the same entry so as soon as everyone made it past the bubble, it was just an all-in fest to get the game over with.

I know I've folded queens before the flop before when there were several people going all-in preflop or several people raised and re-raised. It's possible I folded Kings and just can't remember. I'm not sure I ever folded aces pre-flop.

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Just about the only time to fold aces is on the bubble in a sattelite. Just about any other time it is incorrect but this was the exception. NH.

Crazy.

I'd have to agree, good fold. You're basically just killing time waiting for it to end. Playing any hand is probably a bad idea.

And grats on the win! =)

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Now that I look at it you could have made a standard raise or even limped here. Since you are the CL you should be trying to knock the shorties out still and you have the hand to do it. I know that the only time you should fold aces is when you are at the bubble in a sattelite but that is if you face opposition for your stack or a large portion of it. Being on the bubble does not make folding aces automatic. I would have still played them like normal and even called a small stacks all-in with them, I would just try to avoid clashing with other big stacks at a time like this.

I guess it depends how far ahead you are as CL. I've taken the sit and wait approach before at the bubble and it's not beyond possibility to think that the two shorties could double up and then have med size stacks that put them back in the running. While you don't want to jeopardize your situation, taking out a small stack ends the tourney and wins you the prize.

Maybe raising an amount equal to that of the shorties stack would be better, they could always pick up AT-AK and decide you are raising with a huge range due to your stack.

Alternatively, you could limp/minraise and fold if a big stack raises/call if a small stack raises. I guess it depends on your table image and how a limp/minbet would be perceived.

That being said, if you wanted to come up with a situation in which it made sense to fold aces, this is it.

I agree with everything here except the minraise part. This might be the only time to fold aces, but I don't think there is such thing as a time where min-raising is correct.

I rarely do, but in the low limits i play at it can occasionally be read as even weaker than limping and spark some aggression.

There have been plenty of times I wished I would have folded the pocket aces pre-flop. I think now that this thread got me thinking about it, I may take more time with my aces if I'm in a similar situation as mentioned by Jason.

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It depends upon the case to case scenario but usually you don't fold pair aces. I mean huh?! why would you do that. If you're being called out, then Go shoot but never fold them aces. You might want to fold it after the flop next time.