lgas
06-30-2005, 12:31 AM
The situation: Early in a NLHE tournament with blinds at 25/50, a short-stack moves all in for, say, T150 in EP. My assumption is that they are pretty desperate and not necessarily playing premium hands. One caller in MP w/ about T1500 behind. Folds around to you on the button with TJ suited and right around 1500 behind. The MP caller is a fairly experienced tight player, and you expect if you call he will probably check it down to try to eliminate the all-in short stack barring him hitting a monster. My thinking is that over-calling is the right move here because the caller probably has a pocket pair or a high ace. It doesn't seem like you are likely to lose much more money in this pot (pretty easy to get away from if the tight caller starts betting) and you increase the chances of knocking a player out. Also, assuming MP caller does have a pocket pair, if the all-in short stack happens to have a higher pair (AA, KK, etc), your middle suited connectors are about the best type of hand to try and catch him with. Is my thinking basically sound?
Does the answer vary if it's later in the tournament? If it's at the final table? If you are near the bubble? If the stack sizes are significantly different? In a SNG? Did I ask too many questions in one post?
(And before anyone says this situation is infrequent enough that there are more important things to worry about, the reason I'm asking is I've found myself in this type of situation several times recently and in each case I called and lost to one or the other (or both when they split in one case) of the hands).
Does the answer vary if it's later in the tournament? If it's at the final table? If you are near the bubble? If the stack sizes are significantly different? In a SNG? Did I ask too many questions in one post?
(And before anyone says this situation is infrequent enough that there are more important things to worry about, the reason I'm asking is I've found myself in this type of situation several times recently and in each case I called and lost to one or the other (or both when they split in one case) of the hands).