I'm not saying I advocate folding AA in any of these situations or anything like that. I just thought of it and thought it might bring up some interesting discussion.

1. I have pretty much a 40%chance of winning the SnG right there, that's good enoug for me! If you have 50% of the chips after the first hand it will take a lot for me not to win it. Also, if I lose, I haven't wasted any time and I won't be second guessing myself, I'll just jump on the next SnG.

2. Easy call. Once again not only do I like my chances but it's quick.

3. It seems extremely weak to fold a monster and a chance to tripple up just on the off chance that "maybe" someone gets eliminated. Since you have no idea how big the chances of UTG busting are you can't fold here. If UTG wins you're going to kick yourself.

Bri... I think that in a $20 SNG, the worst that will happen if you lose is that you'll be out $22, and will have wasted 5 minutes of your time... I think that, in the first scenario, if you had invested a significant amount of money (a la WSOP), I think it may be debatable to fold here... But, if you win any of the first 2 hands, you're guaranteed ITM, and should almost sail to either 1st of 2nd... I think it's a definte push for the money...

Oh and to answer the original question, what it would take to make me fold AA preflop. Well, Laura Prepon asking me nicely would certainly be enough. Some things are more important than poker

On the first one, I'm a 60% chance to lose the hand. Since I'm starting the hand with a clean slate (no chips in the pot yet), why would I want to buck the odds?

Of course, if I'm ever caught in that situation, I may not be able to resist the temptation to play 'em. But looking at it objectively from the outside, I think it's a fold. Then I just take my chances playing against a drastically cut field from the second hand and avoid the lucky winner of the first hand as much as and for as long as possible.