big slick question

[silentrob 0]

we were playing a nl tourny and a good question came up and id like some input.my buddy was holding big slick and there was a raise and an over-the-top all in infront of him. he folded and the other players showed 9-9 and A-J.an ace hit and took the pot.i said i would never fold A-K preflop because at worst you're a coin flip to win the pot and in this case take 2 people out of the game.he said he folded because he didnt have any money in the pot and didnt want to play against 1 or 2 made hands.what do you think?

[copernicus 0]

Your friends reasoning isnt quite right. AK is about the same against two lower pairs or one lower pair and a duplicated A with a lower kicker...it is a little better than 1/3 to win. In fact it is slightly stronger against two made hands than against another A. Unfortunately you are probably more likely to be up against another A and a pair than 2 made pairs.(A single pair is in great shape in this situation because he has the same coinflip to win as heads up but is getting twice the odds.)Since youve probably got a slightly favorable odds situation with the AK, the decision has more to do with stack sizes, prize structure etc. Personally I dont take possible coin flips with AK for all or most of my stack until late in a tourney, when I may well dominate a player making a play with AQ or AJ.