Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

Ok, its the stars 5.50 tourney (no rebuy), with 1588 entrants. It's down to 105 players, and I'm UTG. I often find myself in these situations late in MTT's where I have hands like these and am not sure quit what to do with them. Here goes...
PokerStars Game #3300080041: Tournament #16033490, Hold'em No Limit -
Level XI (600/1200) - 2005/12/10 - 23:39:50 (ET)
Table '16033490 47' Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: tibin11 (15308 in chips)
Button: Crock65 (54968 in chips)
SB: farbs42 (10096 in chips)
BB 4: pokerfl (17152 in chips)
UTG: Ivey_Fan20 (12063 in chips)
Seat 6: cmurf78 (8462 in chips)
Seat 7: Achoo (29249 in chips)
Seat 8: Hercuroc (57878 in chips)
Seat 9: JimmyJames69 (12358 in chips) is sitting out
tibin11: posts the ante 75
Crock65: posts the ante 75
farbs42: posts the ante 75
pokerfl: posts the ante 75
Ivey_Fan20: posts the ante 75
cmurf78: posts the ante 75
Achoo: posts the ante 75
Hercuroc: posts the ante 75
JimmyJames69: posts the ante 75
farbs42: posts small blind 600
pokerfl: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Ivey_Fan20 [Qd Ah]
Ivey_Fan20: raises 2400 to 3600
cmurf78: folds
Achoo: folds
Hercuroc: folds
JimmyJames69: folds
tibin11: folds
Crock65: folds
farbs42: folds
pokerfl: raises 13477 to 17077 and is all-in
Ivey_Fan20: calls...

Do you like my line here? I think I had to call that raise, so I'm thinking I should have just pushed in first. I think this maybe a standard play, but I was wondering if anyone else plays it any differently. I figured I would have a race at the best, but as you know you have to win these kind of hands to win these large tourneys. So's what's everyone think?

Re: Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

This is a good push from UTG, but a call here is also almost automatic. Bad players will push with a lot less than AQ, especially if you've been raising a fair bit. Any reads on BB?

Re: Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

nope, he just moved here, the table overall was fairly tight though

Re: Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

yea. push to start. but since you didnt, oh well think you gotta call now.

Re: Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

Push. You're pot committed with your raise to begin with.
I see few realistic scenarios where you'll fold after raising. Pushing is the most powerful play.

Bruce

Re: Stars 5.50...Should I Be Willing to Race Here??????
 

Unless he's holding exactly AA, KK, QQ or AK you're getting the right odds to call. With no reads this is a tough call but I think you have to make it. There's a decent likelihood of this being a lower pair, a lesser Ace or complete air. If this is a true "resteal" you should be golden here.