Question about mid pairs or 9s,10s

I'm in a microlimit tournament. I'm in the cutoff and look down at either 8s,9s, or 10s. There are 2 limpers in front of me that have called for 20 (blinds are 10/20...it's 7 minutes in the tournament and blinds move to 15/30 in 8 minutes). My chip stack is at 1,450.

What is a correct play here? Is a raise to 100 too much? 80? 60? Do some people call here?

This is always a question I seem to have. I've been making it 100 and getting a bunch of callers only to have to fold on the flop when it comes something like A J 6.

And for that guy about how is the table playing, well it seems like they want to see a flop of flops and overplays suited cards and A-rag. From the 6-7 minutes it seems like they aren't too different from the usual $3 buyin crowd.

[HeroInBlack]

No math to back this up, but I'm a pretty good micro player, and I limp 99 or TT here and try to hit a set, because you'll probably get someone's stack if you do.

Now, JJ, I raise 4xBB + 1xBB for each limper.

[zoobird]

I think this is a good approach. The other option with 9s and Ts would be a larger raise to discourage callers. Maybe to about 120 or so. I like the limp though - you're probably going to get the SB and BB along with the 2 limpers, so you're going to have great implied odds if you hit the flop.

[JustPlayingSmart]

You're probably better off limping here. Typically you'll have a hard time playing a flop with overcards, and you're opponents don't usually fold top pair ever, so with a raise to 100 or so and a continuation bet, you've committed a good portion of your stack and don't really have much chance of winning the pot.

But if you hit a set, you're hand is probably disguised, and those same guys who can't fold top pair will pay you off big time.

Thanks for the advice guys. At one point do you then start raising these hands in a similar position, with an average chip stack still. At the 25/50 level to 200?

[gobboboy]

In these tournaments, raises to 3x the BB are much better. If someone is calling 3x, they're calling 4x, and with these hands it's better to see a flop while still limiting the field.

I like limping in this spot unless you want to push and try to pick up the dead money. Sets are absolutely ridiculous in these small tournaments.

25/50 is a good time to start raising and getting some respect on the raises. 100/200 you can really push these hands.