[allenciox]

Awhile back there was a Gigabet post where he tried to steal, he was raised all-in, and he called the raise even though he knew it was -EV to do so. His point was that if he won the additional chips won would give him a substantial chip lead from which he could dominate the table. If he lost, he would be below average stack, but still in decent position.

I think there is another reason to call resteals when caught stealing --- you discourage people from restealing you. If they see that you won't even laydown a questionable stealing hand then they'll just let you have it (Brunson talks about this in Super System as well).

So my question is: how far do you carry this? I had a situation last night as follows:

I was in a slight chip lead at my table with about 35 times the BB, about eighth overall in the tournament, seven tables paid, we were down to 78 players. In the CO+2, I raised 2 1/2 times the blind with KQs. The CO+1, a fairly tight player with a little over 10 times the BB, went all-in. When it came back around to me, I called... I didn't even consider it a close play, getting almost 2:1 on my money. It turned out he had JJ, a Q came on the flop, and a K on the river, and I won with 2 pair. The player who had bubbled out was not happy... "how could you call my all-in with THAT?" he typed. Somebody at the table chimed in with "stoopid.... most holdings would beat you hands down..."

I immediately defended myself with "I was getting almost 2:1". Later I realized I should have typed, "I don't put my chips out there without defending them!", to scare off future resteals.

So what do you all think? Was my play stupid, and I lucked out? Was it negative EV, but still ok? How bad a hand (or how good a hand) would you have to fold in that situation?