Pre flop decision - Opinions please

[ThinkerJE]

Thinker, the chip leader makes a standard raise first into the pot and he has to have aq beat? with his stack i would expect him to be opening a wider range than that including hands AQ has crushed? Saying that i wasnt playing the game and dont know how frequently he was raising but i would expect he could have possibly any pair, ATs plus  and a maybe even KJ or Kq suited. Dont think theres too much wrong pushing. I dont like flat calling but u have position and could play stop and go which could get rid of a lot of small pairs on the flop even if you miss (not saying thats the best play tho)

I agree, his range could be wider and AQ may be the best hand.  However the key to this hand for me is that with my stack I don"t want to commit everything with AQ.  I feel I can wait for a better spot.

[George2Loose]

Shove or fold. Calling is bad. You"d have to base this on reads- how active has the chip leader been from early position?

If he"s been active you have to shove this cos you"re way ahead of his range

[noble1]

fold look for a better spot  no reads on him etc  why shove ?? if he has TT+ AKo+s its a insta call for him and you are in bad shape against 5 of those range  hes getting 1.71 to 1 to call [36% equity] the above range only TT should fold, with his chip stack he may even call that. AQ be the raiser not the caller or shover in this deep stage of mtt and survive to find a better spot to double up.You have plenty of chips and time to find a better situation when hopefully you have a good read...

:as: qh    i"ve read this right havent i ??  whys most saying shove  with no read on villian  hmmmm gambling lot arent we  

again with that hand you need to be the raiser putting the pressure on others AQ is not a great hand in this situation considering all the info you have

[hi_am_chris]

thats a pretty tight range for a chip leader first into a pot even with no read

[noble1]

why give a broad range to a chip leader in ep with no info on him, you have not seen any of his range or his style, why do most people assume the chip leader is playing loose ep ?? He may well be a strong TAG player .. with no info you are just hoping you are ahead , i prefer to shove my chips with some sort of idea where i am in a hand if my judgement is wrong i learn something from it, i can understand a shove if you were at a crucial stage chips wise but imo you are not and with patience you can find a better spot [with some sort of read]

i found it helpful in my game learning wise  , when i could put people on ranges and how it would play against mine , hand reading pre + post flop is an essential part of anyones chances of improving. One of the ways i improved in this area was playing back my last mtts and using poker stove and gradually some of the figures started to come automatic,and also it helped my reading of betting patterns post flop.[playing back hand after hand]