Okay, if you are in the fold camp, at what chip stack would you have to have to call with at this point.
Assuming you have lost a pot, so your chips are down form 10,000, and oppo 1 still has 10,000 and moves all in.. What level of chips would you have to have to call..
Would you call with 2000, would you fold,,, would you call with 5000?
It"s not so much about the absolute size of the stack, but the relative size of the stack compared to the blinds.
It"s the same as people being concerned with the average chip stick and if they match up to it mid-way through a comp. To me, it"s largely irrelevant. I"m more concerned about the size of my stack compared to the blinds and ensuring I"m maintaining the ratio as the blinds increase.
As you go through the tournament, you get to understand what sort of players are at your table - so the all-in move pre-flop might indicate a wide (or very narrow) range of hands. The lack of information very early on is what makes me fold. As biffa said - my fold might be a small mistake, but I"m looking to avoid making a huge mistake. Going out early in a tournament is either due to two monster hands colliding post-flop, or people shoving and calling pre-flop. I don"t mind going out in the first case, but will do my utmost to avoid the second (unless it"s me pushing with AA and I"m outdrawn). Why put your fate in the hands of lady luck, when you still have the opportunity to dictate it yourself?
If it"s during the first level, and I"m down to 5,000 - I"m still not worried at all. If I"m down to 2,000, it"s a little different. I"m looking to double up (as things have obviously gone badly wrong). But even then, I"d rather be dictating things and be the one pushing rather than calling.
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As an aside - here"s another situation where you have to consider calling all-in for your tournament life:
It"s Day 2 of the EPT event in Copenhagen. You are fairly short-stacked with 18,000 and the blinds are 600/1,200 with 100 antes.
To your immediate right is the table bully and chip leader. He"s not shy of shoving all of his chips in, especially when it"s folded round to him in the small blind.
He"s shown that he"s willing to make the push with ATC based solely on his chip stack.
So, my question is what cards do you need to make the call in the big blind when he shoves from the small blind?