How to deal with the All-In Kamikaze?

orth

In my share of tournaments I've come across the occasional person who through some means and super luck no doubt has established a huge stack and every hand he goes all in. He either sucks up the blinds with everyone folding, takes a loss to a shorter stack and it doesn't hurt him much or ousts someone from the tourney with some awful cards.

What should I do in this case? I'm not sure I like staking my tournament to a 60% chance even if I'm holding great cards? Should I just fold all the time and wait for his luck to run out?

I get tempted into doubling up and I've called a few times with a pretty healthy stack myself only to lose each time I've called.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Flint Bones

A couple things you can do.

1) Wait til you get a monster and make the move. This doesn't always work but the math is well known.

2) Wait til someone else hurts him/her badly. It eventually happens.

Not that I am an expert, but these players typically begin to get convinced everyone is folding due to their superior skill. What they fail to realize is that eventually this will backfire and they will not win a tournament this way. Be patient and wait it out. If you have AA KK and a few others call it and you'll probably take it. If you're worried let someone else do it. Someone will.

ScottyZ

1. I would get my chips into the pot faster than a hungry monkey gets on a banana when offered what I strongly felt to be 60-40 win odds getting 1-1 on my money.1

2. Relative position matters a great deal. I would call Mr. Pushy McPush-in with AT from the BB with no other players in, but would fold that same hand with no other players in and 4 players left to act behind me quicker than a second hungry monkey gets in there and starts fighting the first hungry monkey for that tasty banana.

ScottyZ

1Unless I had a very large stack myself.

Flint Bones

Oh monkeys and their bananas.