Listen to this One.  Playing a poker tournanet 25k guaranteed on pokerstars.  Over 6000 player s with a 5$ buyin.  Was 2nd in chips and after playing 12 hours was down to final table, still second in chips. 

Had Pocket 9s...was a small raise by chip leader so I called.  Flop was 9 9 10.  I was out of position so the chip leader goes all in and I was in heaven with my quads.  Dude had 10 10 and on the river hits his quad 10s to beat my quad 9s.  Was out in 9th place with 270$.  Winner was to get close to 6k.  So pissed.

Interesting...

One time I was playing a tournament something like 2500FPP or some number 9 ppl top 3 got into the SUNDAY MILLIONS aka 215$

5 people left and I have AJ suited I raise pre-flop and A10 calls.

flop 2 4 J rainbow...I forgot who pushed but we end up all in, or at least I do...turn 10 river 10...I would of been chip leader and on my way to cashing for 215$ but instead i am out

butttttttt

One time I was playing a micro tourney 2-3 dollars and I ended up all in with 10 10 vs 5 5 I kid you not flop was 2 5 5...turn 10 river 10  I saved the screenshot. 99.9 percent favorite when he hit quads on the flop.

I played the lotto that night and lost

that sucks man.  This would have been hard to do, but you could have folded that set.  as you said, you were 1 place out of the money with the second biggest stack, and you decided to tangle with the chip leader.  There were 4 other guys at the table with lower stacks than you and you put your money on the line against the only guy that could knock you out, one place before the money.  You had a set, but you didn't have the nuts.  You could have folded.  Still sucks.  but in that position, you could have folded. 

If someone with a bigger stack than you went all-in before the flop and it came to you to make a decision, folding AA is probably the right move. 

haha, no man.  that's not it.  he's talking about a tournament where he was at the final table as 2nd in chips, one more person to knock out to get in the money. 

If i'm in a 2000 person tournament and i'm one place out of cashing at 350th place or whatever, i'd never lay down the best hand to be worried about a draw. 

But if i'm 2nd in chips, one place out of the money in a tournament that only plays 5 places, and the chip leader goes all-in on me, after raising preflop from EARLY position, then betting post flop, and re-raising all in, and i didn't have the nuts, i would have thought about folding.  And i certainly wouldn't complain about it afterwards if i called and lost.  He EASILY could have had AA in that scenario.  The important thing to note here are that he tangled with the only guy that could knock him out, at the absolute worst time in the tournament to do it. 

I'm not saying it's an easy laydown or anything, but a great poker player might lay that down.  I'm not a great poker player, I probably would have called.   but there is an argument to laying down the hand.  that's all i'm saying.  If he layed it down, he'd be third in chips or something, and then the short stack would have busted out, and who knows, maybe he would have won the tournament.  instead, he called, and lost.  So you're telling me that i'm scared?  doesn't compute. 

No, not saying that your scared, maybe I just play more aggresive than you?  Sure, your opponent could have had AA, but it's hard for us to say, we weren't at the table to see how he played the rest of his hands.  Different styles of play, thats all.

Where in NY are you from?  Ever play in the poker rooms upstate?  Turning stone?  Seneca?

Agreed, I have never seen someone lay down the second nuts on the flop when the nuts was top set

you're probably right about having the second nuts, and going for it.  I would have called. 

But what if he came on here and said he had AJ? 

The point is, tangling with the chip leader at your table, while you're the 2nd in chips, and the chip leader is playing aggressively, while you're one place out of the money = bad idea. 

That's all i'm saying. 

The point is, in your theory your worried about cashing, not winning, if you fold there, your giving the chip leader an even bigger advantage, while putting yourself in 3'rd or maybe 4'th in chips, then having to get lucky to get back to having a shot to win it.  It's a much better bet that he doesn't have AA rather than trying to double up again in a later hand

Ok fair enough. I live in Bergen Co. NJ so not far from you at all.

But I play a ton of Poker. And as I guess you can tell I take it more than seriously lol.

I must have a magic account because I have somehow found a way to win online for the past 9 years, but i'm thankfull that the people who rig the sites somehow choose not to rig my account.

I try to log around 50 hours a month playing live in Atlantic City. Around five 10 hour sessions a month or so.

So I guess if your just a recreational player or it's a huge tournament then i can see your point. Just not how I look at things thats all. As a cash game player it is always correct to take every mathematical advantage you can, ALL the time.

But again no PRO would ever walk away from that spot, something you did imply could happen.

Good luck at the tables

Your actually not alone. I'n fact your in the majority.

But you have to know that the pro's and better players will pray on you.

I can promise you that you have been pushed around and bullied to no end in almost every single tournament you have come close to the bubble in.

When I did play tournaments I looked for this spot to build my chips and take a run at the final table/win.

There are probably dozens of books with chapters about taking advantage of weak/tight players during bubble play.

You statement about playing for 5 hours and just wanting something from it is actually pretty valid. It's actually one of the minor reasons i stopped playing tournaments.

If your worried about that your better off just playing cash games.