Bubble play with big stack, ethical?

[udontknowmickey]

This situation came up yesterday, and after I did it I wondered if it was entirely ethical.

Party 10+1
small stack in BB with around 5BB after posting. 4 people left in tourney
Folded to me on button. I'm running over the table on the bubble so I make my customary 3x BB raise without looking at my cards, planning to fold to a reraise. Too late I see the tiny stack that BB has. He pushes. Its one more BB to me and I'm getting the pot odds to call with any 2.

I fold figuring that having BB alive increases my chances of stealing from everyone else. shooting an angle or playing smart? BB ended up finishing 3rd.

[Jsb]

i don't think thats unethical at all. its a pretty common strategy. on bubble play, the longer the small stacks are around, the better for the big stack. common strategy. i don't know that i would have purposely given him that many more chips, but if i had been in your situation i would done the same thing most likely.

[Jason Strasser]

You are thinking the right way, but you need to look at the BB's stack size before you make this raise. This is not "unethical" in any sort of way, it just looks dumb. At this point, I'd call the raise. You are getting odds which makes it impossible to fold, and the worst case scenario is that you lose and the bubble is still preserved.