Queens laid down

An interesting decision came up for me today at the Palace...twice!

Once right before the final table, and once a little later while at the final table, I was dealt pocket Queens in late position.  Normally a very good hand (and position) and at this point in the tournament it's one I would go all in with.

But the first time, there was an all-in and a call in front of me.  The amount bet would have put me all in as well.  With two bettors in front of me thinking they had good hands, I was less confident about my Queens.  I didn't want to get sucked out by a guy with a solo ace or king.  So I folded.

The first time this happened, the original bettor turned over a bluff and the caller turned over a K-Q.  Sure enough, a King came on the board and I would have lost.  When I told the table what I did, everyone thought I was crazy, especially the winner who didn't get my chips!

Then a while later it happened again!  This time, there were THREE all-ins in front of me with my Queens.  Again, I figured there had to be some higher cards out there and I didn't want to face them, so I folded.  Two of the all-ins turned over an Ace with a middle kicker (10, J, or something like that), and another guy turned over pocket Kings!

His King's held up, and again I breathed a sigh of relief by having saved my chips.

I went on to chop the purse at the top 5 when I had second place in the chip count.