blonde poker forum

I can't believe I blew these chips!!  Was it just fate?  I don't think I could have done any different.  Opinions please!

We are down to 4 players in a S&G on stars.  13500 chips in play, I have 7k.  One guy has 3k and the other two have about 1700 each. 
Blinds 100/200 ante 25.

I make a raise in first position with AT offsuit to 700.  BB goes all in for 1700 ish.  I have to call 1000 ish into a pot of 2500.  The other thing is the BB I have played with a lot before, and he knows I make a lot of laydowns to reraises, so I wouldnt give him as much credit for a hand as he loves to come over the top of my raises.

So I call, he has AK which holds up.  Down to just over 5k.

I then pay several rounds of blinds and am only marginal chip leader when I find QQ with 3900 chips ish.  For some reason (blinds still 100/200) I decide to go all in from the button (I tend to do this a lot short handed rather than making standard raises), the second in chips calls with AA. 

Down to 300 chips. 

I manage to fluke my way back up to 750 when utg I get T9 and with the BB next hand push all in.  Same guy calls again with AA.  Goodnight! 

Within 5 minutes I blew over half the chips in play 4 handed to go out before the money!  Could I have done anything?

This is a lesson I had to learn recently, when you get tham many chips, become dan harrington play less pots, wait for a top 10 hand, and dont put your stack at risk.

Its a short answer but its a simle soulution.

The AT hand I would not have touched. With blinds that small in a sit n go with 4 players left, they can afford to fold a few rounds waiting to double up. And with you being the chip leader I know that a raise from you does not necessarily represent strengh as it may represent position and stack.

Stay away from mariginal hands and only bet the good ones. You have enough chips for heads up, let the blinds escalate and force the other guys into bad decisions.

now thats a good post

one thing I tend to think about if I am chipped up with 4 to go and its still early in the sng....

if I raise, can I stand a re-raise? if not, I am just leaking chips to my opponents and allowing them back into it

The time for stealing and position raising will come when the blinds are higher

very true. the raise of 700 was far too steep. with AT under the gun. maybe try and find a cheap flop as a big chip leader. but as soon as you put that 700 in you know you're committed if one of the others goes all-in. and you wouldn't call an all-in of around 2k thats gone before you with A10 generally. so you have to think about this before you make that raise. you might aswell have raised to 2k. as you'd have been committed anyway. and the 2k might make the AK second guess and possibibly even fold.
i'd have probably limped. the AK would have re-raised all-in most probably and then you fold.

You were just unlucky IMO.

Thanks for the comments guys.  Yeah the AT hand was basically the one where I could have done things different etc.  Way I saw it was that none of the short stacks would really want to risk their tournament v me so I tried to use my stack to bully. 

I agree with Canuck in that I don't have to get involved with marginal hands when I already have enough chips to get to heads up though.

Also, for me personally at this stage of the tournament (well from the 50/100 level), I never limp.  Especially not with my stack in this example.  It's raise or fold for me from this level.

In the bubble situation mini raising has virtually the same effect as larger raises on short stacks and if someone comes over the top you can fold easily.