Whatcha think about how I played these deuces?

12-man home game, down to six left. Top 3 cash. I am about in the middle, but the three lowest (incl. me) have only 10 blinds or less. The two largest are VERY large, and I think I need to make a move soon. In middle position, I catch 22 in the hole and curse to myself. UTG raises all-in (he's lower than I am) and a call from the guy to my right (who has a decent stack after the call). There are still three people after me to act preflop, and two of them are the big stacks. One of these two is fairly aggressive but doesn't seem to look at odds, etc. The other big stack does and is fairly tight but may have been priced in with a two-face or ace-rag hand. I muck the twos, and the board comes 5-3-2 with two clubs. I, of course, curse again to myself and would have won the hand. The guy to my left (aggressive guy) did in fact call and won with Ace-10 vs. UTG's A-9 suited. I figured, thoug, that I was at least a SLIGHT favorite and at worst in terrible shape, so I decided to muck and wait for a better spot. (It didn't happen. I went in 20 minutes later UTG with Q-10 and about 8X BB to get beaten by KK in the hole to my left.)

What do you think? Did I make the right play? Or would you have pushed with the deuces? With four blinds, I would have, but I figured I still had a bit of breathing room (esp. since one guy may have busted that hand, bringing me closer to cash). Half of me says, "You had a bit of time and were probably beaten early." The other half says, "Fool! Take the stand! You would have tripped up!"

Again: What would you have done?

[DJ Sensei]

With an all-in and a call ahead of you, 22 is garbage, and you were right to fold.

The only times a call could be warranted here is if:
a) both you and the caller have plenty of chips behind, and you can possibly win a big pot if you hit a set.
b) you have very few chips left, like less than 3 BB's. In this case, you need to make a move before the blinds get to you, and any pair will do.

Also, you'll play better poker if you don't worry so much about the outcome of single hands (or, "results-based thinking" as most folks around here will call it). Your fold was correct, and thats all you should be concerned with.

[John Bedtelyon]

Solid fold...

Don't worry about what "could have been" ie, your missed triple up. Play right and you'll win [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

JMB

[pzhon]

Never fold anything. You might flop quads.

22 is an underdog against two random hands, and much worse after a push and a call. There is no reason to get involved. This is a clear fold.

[tonypaladino]

Easy fold. Don't be results oriented.

[utmt40]

Woulda Coulda Shoulda...Fold pre-flop both hands unless you can limp with the duces.