It's about two hours into a live MTT. You have about 8,500 chips and are among the chip leaders. The blinds are 75/150, and you are two off the button.

A very solid, experienced player opens the pot from UTG for 450. It folds to you, and you have KK. You re-raise to 1,200. It now folds to the BB, who flat calls, leaving him with a very short stack.

The UTG now moves all in. It's 4,000 more chips to you to call. What's your play?

C






a






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l

Call, you still have 3300 left if he has AA or have 13700 and chip leader if he doesn't have AA.

I'm actually surprised that so many of you think that this is an easy call. I called, but I've been beating myself up for not having the discipline to lay this hand down.

At the time, I was pretty certain that the UTG had pocket aces. I had played with him before and knew that he was a solid, tight-aggressive player. He had plenty of chips, and I was the far bigger stack. As I thought through the preflop betting, it seemed to me that he certainly did not have to make this move (i.e., he was not shortstacked). Thus, if he was willing to put all his chips at risk, he had to have a premium hand. I figured he had AA or KK, and more likely the former.

I reluctantly called because I felt that the BB would come along and give me pot odds of almost 2.5 to 1 on my call. I also found it very difficult to let this hand go.

The UTG did have AA, and the BB called with QQ. The turn and the river came up Aces, and the UTG won the hand with quads. I did not improve, not that it would have mattered with the runner-runner cards.

Anyway, I feel in retrospect that I should have folded and trusted my read, but it's a little reassuring that you guys would have done the same thing I did.

AA vs. KK is a pretty much impossible hand to get away from. I've only got away from it once, when 5 people went all-in before me, and I figured one had to have AA.

I have only folded KK PF once, and I am still pissed that I did.

I WILL NEVER lay down KK in fear of AA. Its like laying down bottom set in fear of top set. Id have to have hell of a read. I think your playing by results here. Why is AK, QQ or JJ not possible here trying to isolate the shortstacked BB who will almost certainly play for the rest of his chips.