[Shillx]

We have 20 SB behind. The hand is worth 49 SB in a cash game situation. Here is what this means...

Everyone folds to me in the SB and I turn my A3o face up for the BB to see. If either me or the BB have more then 49 SB in our stack(s), I can't move in here and make money. If either one of us do have less the 49 SB, I make more $$ by moving in then by folding.

The problem in an SNG is that you oftentimes need to be more then a 50/50 shot to play a pot. Here are some bubble #'s with A3o.

If you are pushing into a BB with...

3x stack as you (this assumes that everyone on the bubble has 3x what you have. So stacks of 3k/3k/3k/1k) - KS Value/2.5 is the max stack you can have
2x stack - KS/3
Even - KS/10
1/2 stack - KS/2.1
1/3 stack - ~ KS

Bubble play with hands like A2 and A3 are sketchy. Since they are only ~54% favorites against a random hand, the BB can simply call all-in dark and kill your EV. With even stacks on the bubble, you can't push face up with more then about 5 SB behind. If you have the whole table in bad shape (say 4k/1k/1k/1k) you can push A3o face from the SB with blinds as low as 25/50 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]. (Run a sim if you want and have the BB call with 22+/A2+....it is + $.07 cents to push at a $55)

When it is 6 handed, you can push more freely. You can't push with 49 SB behind, but you can push with say 38 SB behind. Pushing with 20 SB is something you should be doing like clockwork.

Brad

Edit- Here are some ITM numbers from the SB. It makes no difference what your hand is here (on the bubble it makes a big difference). You can afford to push better hands more freely on the bubble since they can't take the "call any 2" approach against you. ITM though, all hands play the same since you don't have to worry about busting OOTM. Assume that you are the 1st stack size listed and the values are for +EV face up (namely it doesn't matter what the villian decides to call with, you have to make money).

(T6000,T2000,T2000) - Same as KS
(T5000,T2500,T2500) - KS/1.2
(Even stacks) - KS/1.8
(2000,4000,4000) - KS/1.4
(1000,3000,3000) - KS/1.37

You can play a lot looser ITM then on the bubble. The best time to push is when you have the entire table covered in a big way. The next best time is when you are short and you have to be somewhat careful when you have an avg. stack.

Brad