Down to One Chip – Fold AA!

As I've said in another tip, it is almost always wrong to fold AA before the flop in no limit Texas hold ‘em. But here's one case where it's correct:

Suppose that for whatever reason, you're down to just one chip in a tournament, and the blinds are 1000/2000. You're in the money. If you're dealt AA, you should fold! You're not going to be able to build your stack back up. Even if you tripled up four times, you'd still have just 81 chips. The best plan at this point is to hope to get lucky on your blinds and survive, and maybe you'll be able to inch your way up a few spots in the money. You're barely going to be playing poker at this point – it's almost like playing virtual poker game for you – but it's the most profitable way to play this (incredibly rare) situation.