ITM: "Gamble for first, settle for third."

[spentrent]

I've seen this sentiment echoed a bit on this board. Those that subscribe to this: what exactly is entailed by "gambling for first?"

For instance, we're ITM. I'm the button with ~1500. The SB has ~1500, and the BB has ~4000. I am dealt T9o.

Push?

[J-Lo]

if u have <10x BB i think this would be a good push, as long as you have a solid image thus far.. haven't been caught pushing w/ JTs or wild hands like that...

The quote "gamble for first, settle for third" is there because of the payout structure. The jump from 4th to 3rd is significant, while the jump from 2nd to 3rd isn't nearly as significant, and lastly the jump from 2nd to 1st is quite large and you needs chips when heads up to have a chance at first.

However, u seem to be playing the $50's i'm a $16 turbo player on stars... So take it with a grain of salt

[sofere]

I'd probably open push that if blinds are > 50/100. If button limped and does so fairly often, I'd push too.