Overcalling all-in shortstack w/ TJ suited (in a NLHE tourny), +EV?

[lgas]

The situation: Early in a NLHE tournament with blinds at 25/50, a short-stack moves all in for, say, T150 in EP. My assumption is that they are pretty desperate and not necessarily playing premium hands. One caller in MP w/ about T1500 behind. Folds around to you on the button with TJ suited and right around 1500 behind. The MP caller is a fairly experienced tight player, and you expect if you call he will probably check it down to try to eliminate the all-in short stack barring him hitting a monster. My thinking is that over-calling is the right move here because the caller probably has a pocket pair or a high ace. It doesn't seem like you are likely to lose much more money in this pot (pretty easy to get away from if the tight caller starts betting) and you increase the chances of knocking a player out. Also, assuming MP caller does have a pocket pair, if the all-in short stack happens to have a higher pair (AA, KK, etc), your middle suited connectors are about the best type of hand to try and catch him with. Is my thinking basically sound?

Does the answer vary if it's later in the tournament? If it's at the final table? If you are near the bubble? If the stack sizes are significantly different? In a SNG? Did I ask too many questions in one post?

(And before anyone says this situation is infrequent enough that there are more important things to worry about, the reason I'm asking is I've found myself in this type of situation several times recently and in each case I called and lost to one or the other (or both when they split in one case) of the hands).

[tshak]

3-5BB short stacks have an insanely huge allin range (15-25% or more of the deck depending on the player and the situation). Your tight player knows this and has adjusted his call accordingly. However he may also reraise (in many conditions) with grp1 and maybe even grp2 hands. Nevertheless I'd estimate that you're at least a 3:1 dog in a pot offering you a little better than 2:1. JTs is a great hand to see a flop with, but it just sucks in any sort of "race" situations. It's -EV to go heads up with this hand even if that person is pushing once every 3 hands. Unless you are sure that A) you'll get at least one more caller and B) there won't be a reraise from the blinds then it's maybe got +EV. But even then I'd rather pass (which kills me, because I love seeing a flop with this hand). You can't expect an experienced player (unless he's tight/weak, or simply misinformed) to check it down. An experienced player will fight for his pot to increase his EV (with possible exception to certain payout or bubble type scenarios). Unless you know otherwise, the best you can expect is that he won't bluff-steal the pot with a weak holding. If elimination is what you're concerned about, I'd much rather have hand like 88 in this position. You'll not only have +EV (which in this scenario is all that should concern you), you'll also eliminate the short stack far more often than with JTs. And you won't be afraid of overs because your tight player will let you know if he hits or not.

[dfan]

Seems to me that until you are on the bubble or at the final table where prize money is increasing rapidly, your last concern should be knocking a player out if it entails any risk to your stack size. One more person gone early in the tourney has almost no effect on your expected winnings. Play the hand to maximize YOUR chip EV only. So no, I wouldn't play JTs and certainly not because I was hoping for a cooperation play.