Views on how i played this.

wp just got ul...imo

raise 2.3x bb in future. no need to make it 35k.

You made a strong raise with A9 and for him to shove, he is more than likely going to have you beat preflop.

Always hard to comment on these sort of hands where we dont know how the villian has been playing, for all we know he could have been shoving every hand.

Against an uber aggro/loose opponent ( and hes shoved here knowing hes in a race AT VERY BEST, AND POSSIBLY DOMINATED )then it would appear in this instance whether you bet 23k or 35k, his response would probably have been the same.

Klup is right in saying there was no need to make it 35k. If you fold to his shove, you are left with 20bb's if you include the antes, a stack size I hate playing heads up. You are not quite at push fold stage, but you are starting to run out of options.

I don't think you can fold A9 there, it's obviously a strong hand heads up, and if he is playing so aggressively he's happy to stick the lot in with 55, you probably couldnt have afforded to wait much longer for a potentially better spot.

A great poker player would fold there and use his skill to wear down his opponent. A gambler would jam in lay and pray fashion.

I dont think the stack sizes are big enough for great poker play or skill. Say you raise to 23k as you suggest then fold to his shove, what does that leave you with ? Just under 22 big blinds. Sounds a lot but heads up it isn't,looking at Nash Equilibrium you are already aboutto enter push fold territory, where there is minimal, if any, skill involved, you are simply playing by the maths.

What do you do if the big stack is simply shoving repeadtedly not allowing you any post flop play, because lets face it once you get down below 15 bbs, which is going to happen in a few hands time, thats whats going happen ?  You will be at the stage where you have to shove something like 50% of the time, and he can call about 35% of the time.

Even without a  blind rise, an all in confrontation should be inevitable, mathematically at least, within the next 15-20 hands if not sooner.If you dont make a stand with A9, when are you going to do it ?

Given the buy in I honestly donk think the OP has done much wrong. Yeah in an ideal world he wants to be calling with an overpair there,but sometimes against an aggressive big stack you have to fight fire with  fire

He had shoved a good few times heads up to my raises. I just taught at the time it was time to take a stand. I think it was marginal either way. I know about pot odds etc. Have read books etc. I had seen him shove on the final table all in with 66 77 99. That seemed to be his only move limp or all in. Anyway i think it was 50/50 wither way. I was folding intially but taught it was time to take a stand.

Just one other question if i may. I have played poker and online just for a bit of fun for years. Am a few thousand dollars up over many years. As i say i only play for a bit of fun. I have read alot of books etc. When i started playing raises where 3/4 times big blind. Maybe more if limpers. Now raises seem smaller. Also watching tv poker raises are usually 2.2-2.5 times. Min raises seem more likely as well. I know bigger buy ins you will get less callers pre. In playing stakes at $5-$15 dollars if you make smaller raises pre you tend to get more callers. Should i be making smaller raises pre in tournaments. I know its all dependent on table etc but in general it seems raises have got alot smaller. Thanks for the comments.

He had shoved a good few times heads up to my raises

Then you should snap call.

min raises ftw, makes the heads up play out much quicker.

Even before I saw your 2nd post I thought this was a call with A9, as Chip points out the stack sizes mean that if you dont call now you probably have to do it pretty soon with possibly a worse hand.

As soon as you say he had shoved a lot then it's an insta call as his range will be pretty vast and A9 will be beating a lot of it.

As it is you end up racing and as in all tournaments you need a bit of luck in ur races as inevitably you will be involved in at least a couple of them.

You made the correct move IMHO so GG WP and next tourney awaits and still a nice payout for a small investment!

i'm amazed you played it at all,you must have played for hours to get to the last two ? yet you ask how you played the very last hand.your a book reader thousands of dollars up and after all thOse years of playing your asking how to play A9 heads up .
oh and nice catch

Its only human nature to see the last hand of a MTT as the only one that matters. In this case the difference between 1st and 2nd was $110, which may be a lot of money to the OP.

Obviously in the cold light of day we can all see that any MTT you play to heads up will involve hundreds and possibly thousands of decisions, all of them important in their own way. However in the immediate aftermath its normal to analyse an individual hand you believe has cost you victory.

I know last summer when I bubbled a WSOP satelitte, I ended up racing all in for a hand that was to all intent and purpose worth 5.7k to me. And I lost, so for most of the next few hours I ran that individual hand through my head over and over asking myself the same question: could I have waited for a better spot.

Analysing hand histories a few days later I'd actually lost the seat a good 10 minutes before the exit hand. Sometimes people just want reassurance they did the right thing and it doesn't hurt to provide that.

Ave it i didnt win. I only causally. Should probably play higher but poker bores me. And your response is a  bit think. Chipfire thanks for the replys i think it was 50/50.

Ave it i didnt win. I only causally. Should probably play higher but poker bores me. And your response is a  bit think. Chipfire thanks for the replys i think it was 50/50.

Sorry bit drunk playing now. Only time i win is sober. Break even drunk. Only play poker as i said casually. With a few drinks. The hand i asked about was sober. Live play up about 2000 eur in one year but got fed up. Anyway thanks for the replys. Think i need to raise less pre.

A great poker player would fold there and use his skill to wear down his opponent. A gambler would jam in lay and pray fashion

Your chips are in the middle then everytime?!!!!

Min open pre. Your bet sizing preflop is just hideous. If you had been bet sizing smaller with your weaker hands (surely not but maybe..) then this is a pass as he shouldve picked this up. If you been bomb opening every time then I suppose call off.

I echo Jamesbeckton's comments. Thats pretty much my view of it - overbet pre is sooo 2010. Modern mtt game demands softer raises.