Time after time after time I see the same play over and over again. The coin flip is the type of play that we all need to be able to win with and defend against. It’s not that it’s a bad play though. It is the timing of the play that can make it such a poor choice in poker tournaments. The coin flip is used constantly early in tournaments which is a major no no. You never want to take a flip or a draw for your entire stack early in a poker tournament. WEAK players make this play. Stronger players will wait and pick up there chips with stronger hands early or use position to hit a set or straight. The bottom line is you want to take flips when you are midway or deep in a tournament and need to double up to stay in the game. Otherwise, you try to stay away from them and out play the weaker players. Too many players get married to AK thinking that it’s always going to hold up against small or medium pairs. The fact of the matter is that AK is behind against those types of hands and if the help doesn’t come your gonna be gone. So be careful when taking the “50/50″ flip and make the play when it’s necessary not when it’s just convenient.