AKs from BB facing a SB shove — call or fold?
The answer
Call
call it off
The math: 10bb · no pay jumps. ace-king suited is a snap-call vs a shove.
Why
When someone shoves 10 big blinds into your big blind, they're jamming a wide range: lots of weak aces, small pairs, and hopeful suited hands. Ace-king suited beats almost all of it. With no pay jumps to worry about, there's nothing to agonize over — you're getting a great price and you're ahead of the range. This is about as close to a free double-up as poker offers. Call it and don't blink.
The spot
- Your seat
- BB
- Stakes and stacks
- 500 / 1,000 · 10bb
- Your hand
- A♠ K♠
- Board
- Preflop — no board yet
- Pot
- POT · 11,000
- Action on you
- SB shoves 10bb
Every option
Foldlet it go
Why not: Folding feels safe when you'd rather not flip for a big chunk of chips, but there are no pay jumps here, so playing it safe earns you nothing. A♠K♠ is ahead of almost every hand that shoves 10bb, and laying it down just burns a huge edge.
Callcall it offCorrect
The idea behind it
In a chip-EV spot — no pay jumps, no bubble — you only need raw equity to call a shove. Against a short stack jamming a wide range, premium hands like ace-king sit far ahead of that range, so you call and bank the edge.
Concept: Snap-call the shove
Terms in this spot
Play it instead of reading it
The trainer deals this hand with hints, grading and spaced repetition — and randomized variations of it once you have seen it.