The nature of 800 chip games

[pergesu]

I completely agree with you on this hand. It's way too easy for him to have a flush draw, an open ender, a weaker Q, JJ/TT. The only hands you lose to are a retarded 2 pair, a set, or an overpair. The fact that our stacks shrink rather quickly as the blinds increase, and particularly because so many of our opponents are willing to put their stacks in on marginal holdings, means that you have to be willing to bet it all in spots like this. Occasionally you get broke, but playing this hand any other way is less than optimal.

Harrington mentions this a couple times in his books. He says stuff like, "He may have you beat, but this is a tournament and you don't have the time to lay down good hands like this. Just push and hope you're best."