Well I am in a live tourny I have pocket aces. I raise preflop about three times bb. got two callers. flop comes 2,9,5 rainbow. So I am down to about 1k in chips and rather that someone sucking out on me I go all in. one fold and one caller with Q,8 unsuited. I am like wtf but ohwell. wouldn't you know the turn comes Q and the river comes 8. So now Im a little upset and walking out the door and there is one slot machine I play everytime for $5 its a quarter machine. I play my normal $5 and I hit it for $95 so less my tourny fee I leave $55 ahead. But back on topic did I play the hand right?

You got all chips in the best hand cant do anything better then that.

Originally Posted by buckyxj

Well I am in a live tourny I have pocket aces. I raise preflop about three times bb. got two callers. flop comes 2,9,5 rainbow. So I am down to about 1k in chips and rather that someone sucking out on me I go all in. one fold and one caller with Q,8 unsuited. I am like wtf but ohwell. wouldn't you know the turn comes Q and the river comes 8. So now Im a little upset and walking out the door and there is one slot machine I play everytime for $5 its a quarter machine. I play my normal $5 and I hit it for $95 so less my tourny fee I leave $55 ahead. But back on topic did I play the hand right?

Pre-flop raise should be 5 times BB and if you are short stacked (or the 5 times BB leaves you pot committed) go All-in - one of the big stacks will almost always take you up on it. Just how short handed was the table that someone would call 3 BB with Q-8 or was this guy in the BB? With 5 BB the Q-8 most likely would have folded even if in the BB.

it was still a 9 handed table

Originally Posted by buckyxj

Well I am in a live tourny I have pocket aces. I raise preflop about three times bb. got two callers. flop comes 2,9,5 rainbow. So I am down to about 1k in chips and rather that someone sucking out on me I go all in. one fold and one caller with Q,8 unsuited. I am like wtf but ohwell. wouldn't you know the turn comes Q and the river comes 8. So now Im a little upset and walking out the door and there is one slot machine I play everytime for $5 its a quarter machine. I play my normal $5 and I hit it for $95 so less my tourny fee I leave $55 ahead. But back on topic did I play the hand right?

Buckyx - I have no idea if you played it well. What were the chipstacks at the table, what was your position, what was the action in front of you and behind, and what were the blinds. Oh, and how far off was the $?

These are the critical elements to determining how we make good plays in tournaments. Post it up and we'll all take a look.

if you are playing slot, you definitely aren't making good gambling decisions.

stacks are important, like jason said.

I was small stack but just about $500 less than him which wasnt much.

Originally Posted by buckyxj

I was small stack but just about $500 less than him which wasnt much.

Ok, you had 1k and he had 1500. What were the blinds, what positions were you in, and how far off was placing in the $?

From the way you've approached posting this hand, I think that the biggest area in your game that needs work is your understanding of position and the influence of chipstacks in a tourney. My advice is forget about how to play aces (there is almost no "wrong way" to play them) and focus on your understanding of position. It'll pay off much more than the 1:250 times (or whatever it is) you're dealt aces.