How to play small pocket pairs late in the tournament

I always end up in a situation where i get an all-in raise preflop while i'm holding a small pocket pair (ex. 33,44,55,66) and I just can't decide to call or not. I can't tell how the people play because people are leaving and entering the table at all times, and they are all almost very aggressive. I rarely ever have pot odds to call, and they usually have a bigger stack than me. How should I go along playing these hands?

[Matador225]

Depends a lot on the size of your stack. If your shortstacked and need to gamble to make it into the money (and presumably much deeper into the money) then I think you need to take the chance most times, especially when facing other short stacks that need to double up. Its tough with no reads though. If you are not too shortstacked you might want to wait for a better spot because a significant percentage of the time your facing a medium to high pocket pair. When in doubt and not in desperation mode, I generally fold. Remember that the value of small pocket pairs decrease rapidly as the blinds increase. Hope I helped.
-Jack

I always figure calling an all in with a small pocket pair is at best a coinflip, and at worst domination. However, going all in is sometimes a positive thing depending on stack size, limpers, position at the table (and where you are in the tournament bubble-wise), and etc. I find small pocket pairs to be a highly situational sort of hand.

As mentioned, depends on your stack.. if I have a PP and have <6 times the pot I'll treat it like a monster and go all-in.. If I have something like 7-10 times the pot, they decrease in value.

[AWLurch]

What he said. Read Inflection Point play in HOH2

[nath]

Generally, I don't want to call an all-in with a small pair unless the right combination of factors are present in enough amounts:

-Our stack sizes are disparate enough that losing wouldn't hurt. I'm not looking to call off 1/3 or even 1/4 of my stack in this situation. (Alternately: I'm short enough myself that calling all-in in a nearly even-money situation is a chance I'm looking to take.)
-I feel the short stack is desperate enough that his range may include some hands I dominate (i.e. if I have 66 and any Ax [or even Kx] is a possibility, A2-A6 all being good things for me to see).

Basically I'm looking for factors which would increase my equity in the hand as well as situations where variance is acceptable.

I'd much rather be on the offensive than the defensive with those hands.

Late in a tournament, YOU want to be the one raising with small pocket pairs and putting the others to the decision. some players will always lay down small pockets to an all - in.
Calling an all - in with a small pocket pair is a different matter. This will depend on your stack size and the stack of the all - in, position (who's yet to act) (how many chips they have), table image, etc.