[Lottery Larry]

>I) I raise UTG with Ax suited in our 6-handed table to $1200 (about 30%
>of my stack), thinking that I might steal the blinds from up front because
>people won't be eager to play this hand (plus I have enough hand to
>possibly escape if called) and I need to accumulate some chips.
> The button, who has played generally tight and generally showed
>winners at the end, but whom I suspected of stealing some pots earlier in
>the evening, reraises another 1500 all-in, knocking out everyone else.
>
> If I call, I'm crippled. If I fold, I have enough for a few circuits
>but I have to start aggressively going after chips pretty quickly (300/600
>when the final table is formed)
>
> a) Call and gamble for chips, or fold here? How low would card X
>have to be before you fold a suited Ace hand here, against this player
>(whose play I didn't really know very well)?

I raised with A9s. The other player went all-in with a pair of 3's. I folded after agonizing about the money in the pot for a long while, figuring that I had to be pot-committed if I made the raise in the first place (since I had it covered). The player had seen me fold to raises before, so I couldn't decide what the strength of the hand was.

The rabbit hunt showed that a 9 would have flopped, just to rub it in my face. I'm pretty sure I made a somewhat poor decision by raising UTG, but I think (results aside) that it was a bad decision to fold once I did raise- I was going to need the chips to have any chance of getting anywhere, I think.
>
>II) Final table, down to 8 players. I'm down to 1425 in late position
>with 350/700 blinds. UTG limps, folded to me, with Qy suited. In 4 hands
>I'll hit the blinds and pretty much have no chance of making the money,
>much less anything else. There are decent sized stacks behind me (button,
>2 blinds) and the UTG limper had a decent-sized stack.
>
> a) Move all-in here? I'd gotten lucky the previous hand when my T7,
>flopped pair of 7s', caught trips on the river to keep me in the game
>against a flopped overpair. I'm sure at least one person, if not more
>than the UTG limper, will be calling if I move in.

I moved in here, eventually a raising war erupts behind me, with the button, small blind and big blind pushing in their chips (UTG called a few flop raises and eventually bailed out). The button had JJ, but his full house was beaten by KK bigger full house (turn K, river J if I remember correctly).

If I would have folded, I might have snuck into 6th place. I would have had to get lucky, since only one other player was knocked out during the raising war.

The WORST part of the A9 hand that I tortured myself with afterwards (in my results-oriented agony):

If I call, I win and I have enough chips that I DON'T play the T7 or the Q7... and I might have made the money, assuming the KK/JJ war goes down without change, since we'd only have 9 players at the final table.

If I don't raise preflop in the first place, but wait for the final table, I again have enough chips that I don't play the T7 and Q7... and maybe make the money?

My opponent on the A9 hand took my wimpy fold money and ended up winning the tournament

Thanks to all for the comments