Bubble hand. Call or fold?

[zheka]

$50+5
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (4 handed) converter

Button (t3021)
SB (t4662)
Hero (t1687)
UTG (t630)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">SB raises to t4662 (All-In)</font>, <font color="#666666">[i]

[Voltron87]

Easy fold.

[Nottom]

This is a very easy fold. People who call in spots like this are making a big mistake.

[Misfire]

[ QUOTE ]
Easy fold.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you elaborate? Does SB not reek of a bully play? Isn't 5xBB desperation time? Aren't we supposed to play for first? I know I'm a n00b, but what am I not understanding?

[Voltron87]

Well with 77 here you're probably a coinflip against what he has, and you would want to avoid a 50/50 here while there is a shortstack (2BB) around.

I play for first, but right now this is a 50 50 and that doesn't help you very much. If I had a big edge here, AA-JJ, AK, I would call, but there is no reason to call here without an edge.

This is all relative to stacks, the fact that there is someone about to go out changes everything.

[Nottom]

If the SB didn't look at his cards before pushing, you still have to fold. Thats the beauty of SNG bubbles.

77 just doesn't win enough against an average hand to make the call.

Without showing the math, you need to win 66.5% of the time to make this a breakeven call. You really think 77 is gonna do that?

[Misfire]

[ QUOTE ]
This is all relative to stacks, the fact that there is someone about to go out changes everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is something I've been trying to deal with. Before I was just folding my way into third in similar situations, but thirds haven't been enough to give me a comfortable ROI. So I started reading suggestions about getting more agressive on the button and playing for first, and that has seemed to help a lot. Now I'm hearing advice to again more or less fold into third.

Is this because the SB is the agressor here? Would it be sound, say, if SB had completed (or minraised?), to push all-in--thus being the agressor with 77 rather than the caller?

[Voltron87]

I fold into third when someone else is on a severe short stack and I would have to risk all my chips to do anything about it. When I have a big stack and can double someone up and still be in the running then I play for first

[Nottom]

If the SB limped, I would usually push.

[EasilyFound]

Great thread. What is obvious to the vets has to be learned by the rookies.