PokerStars, $5,200 buy-in, WCOOP Main Event, I have AA

Where: PokerStars, $5,200 buy-in, WCOOP Main Event.

The Main Event is a 2-day tourney, 2,144 entrants and a $1.7 million 1st place prize.

Here is a fun little situation that happened early in this event:

8 hands in: Interesting situation came up and here’s how I played it. Some of you might disagree but I love this move. I was in the BB with AA. Blinds were 25-50. There was a raise to $150 and 3 callers by the time it got to me. Since we are only 8 hands in, everyone has about their starting stack or $20K.

Now, most people would probably raise here to $450 or $600, maybe an oversize raise to $800 to hope for a heads up isolation. The problem with that raise in this position is that if the first player behind me calls, the other 3 players are priced in and now I’m playing against 4 players all acting behind me. Yes I have AA but its likely one or more of them will hit the flop hard.

Not to mention, no matter what I raise here I’m pretty much giving away the strength of my hand anyways….even more so if I make a raise that looks like I want a caller.

So that option sucks. Here’s the other thing, I don’t really care at this point about picking up a few extra chips this early with $20K stacks. Whoop Dee Doo.

There’s really no scenario in this spot that can play out to me winning more than another $800 or so in chips.

Here’s what I did: I launched my whole stack. That’s right, I launched $20K. You might say WTF? And that’s fine.

Like I said, I don’t care about picking up a few hundred, maybe $1,000 extra chips. I’m hoping initial raiser (and/or a possible slow-playing caller behind him) has QQ or KK and calls so I can double up right out of the gate.

Plus, they are currently thinking to themselves, WTF? Does he not want me to call? Why so much? Is this man crazy? Some people will be so annoyed they will attempt to call my bluff with AK or AQ.

So the best case scenario here is that someone thinks I’m full of it or has a big hand and calls. I double up early and work the table over with endless aggression.

The worst case scenario is that everyone folds, I pick up $600 in chips and nobody raises my blind the rest of the night because they think I’m crazy and willing to put my whole stack in the pot.

Yes everyone folded but they were afraid of me…..for a little while anyways.