Poor fold on my part?
 

Villian has raised a lot recently, and I was sensing some tilt. 3 Handed any ace seemed to be good but was not sure how to play this, ended up folding. On the first hand I figured that short stack would be involved, and I didnt' want to be first in and get reraised with K9o. Second hand looked to be a possible steal, but wasn't sure. I was actually sensing a touch of tilt, but going to the next level I figured that he wanted a call, with him thinking I suspected tilt. I'm guessing the choice is between Pushing and Folding, thoughts appreciated

***** Hand History for Game 3210350641 *****
400/800 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 18325492) - Fri Dec 16 10:37:11 EST 2005
Table Table 67016 (Real Money) -- Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 3
Seat 4: Villian (3320)
Seat 5: Hero (3695)
Seat 6: player (985)
player posts small blind (200)
Villian posts big blind (400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 9d, Ks ]
Hero folds.
player raises (785) to 985
player is all-In.
Villian calls (585)
Creating Main Pot with $1970 with player
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Kc, Js, As ]
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Kd ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 4s ]
** Summary **
Main Pot: 1970 |
Board: [ Kc Js As Kd 4s ]
Villian balance 2335, lost 985 [ 8h Ts ] [ a pair of kings -- As,Kc,Kd,Js,Ts ]
Hero balance 3695, didn't bet (folded)
player balance 1970, bet 985, collected 1970, net +985 [ 5d Qc ] [ a pair of kings with queen kicker -- As,Kc,Kd,Qc,JsQc(kicker card) ]

***** Hand History for Game 3210351454 *****
400/800 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 18325492) - Fri Dec 16 10:37:31 EST 2005
Table Table 67016 (Real Money) -- Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 3
Seat 4: Villian (2335)
Seat 5: Hero (3695)
Seat 6: player (1970)
Villian posts small blind (200)
Hero posts big blind (400)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Hero [ 2c, Ah ]
player folds.
Villian raises (800) to 1000
Hero folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: 1400
Villian balance 2735, bet 1000, collected 1400, net +400
Hero balance 3295, lost 400 (folded)
player balance 1970, didn't bet (folded)

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

I would have pushed A2o into his raise.

I also would have raised your K9o UTG, enough to cover the short stack.

Villain is correct to raise many hands here. Your hand selection should be much wider than it should be when you are, say, 10-handed, because you are more likely to have the best hand at the table with something like K9o. Don't be afraid to be aggressive, especially when you have your opponents covered while already ITM.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

I'd push both hands. The blinds are almost a fourth of your stack.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

Er the blinds are a tenth of his stack, but I'd still push both anyway.

By the way Villain's call on hand 1, whilst perhaps not standard, is perfectly fine really.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

It said 400/800, so I read that to mean the blinds were 400 and 800, but I see later in the post it says 400, so I'm not sure what the 400/800 means. But 8 or 9 times, whatever, these are good enough hands to push.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

The 400/800 means 400 on the flop, 800 on the turn min bets - it's a limit thing but for some reason gets carried over to Party's tournament summaries. Just ignore it, or remember it's always double the actual SB/BB of the hand.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

Thanks for the input guys, my short-handed play has been pretty solid until as of late, when I get into situations such as these. My initial thought was to get out of the way, anticipating a push from the short stack and almost certain call from Villan. I'll def work on that.

So what is my pushing range 3 or 4 handed, when I'm first to act or it's been folded to me? All the way down to Group 7? 8? Any ace or king?

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

Sorry to be a dick but the only answer I can give is: It depends. On your opponents, on your stack size, on their stack size, on blinds, on the short stack and his relative position (if any), on your image..

For instance here with K9o I am pretty sure there's almost no range they can have anyway whereby calling will cost you $EV. Plus the fact that if you push, the BB should fold a hell of a lot because of the short stack. If the short stack calls, he should get out of the way as well anyway, unless he has an even better hand than if the short stack had folded. Stuff like that should always be in the forefront of your thoughts.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

Obviously it depends, but in this scenario I wasn't liking either fold and wanted to see if my feeling was right (that folding, in fact, was incorrect). The 3 or 4 handed comment might have been mistaken, obviously it's situational and there is no cookie cutter answer, but wanted to get a few more ideas.

Re: Poor fold on my part?
 

When you push the first hand you'll pick up 600 chips most of the time which puts you in the chip lead by far and you'll be able to take command of the tourney. If shorty calls its not a big deal because you'll usually still have a chance to win the pot and take the resst of his chips. Even if you lose that battle you'll still be in o.k. position. The other big stack would need a big hand to call so he'll probably fold most of the time. Once you add to your stack here it makes it easier to play the 2nd hand which I would push right back in his face.