Unarmed's ICM thoughts sub-thread

[llabb]

Unarmed wrote a good post which articulates a style of play that I intuitively use when deciding which marginal +EV situations to push or not. That thread is going in a different direction, primarily about the preference of UTG pushing vs SB pushing, where the situations have an equal amount of +EV for that hand. Also about the value of a short stack.

Anyway, I wanted to follow up on one of Unarmed's earlier statements in the thread, and see if experienced players agree with this.

[ QUOTE ]
Like, if I have KTs in the SB and 14BB, its a clear push by EV. However, I normally pass on it because I don't want to risk busting at that stage.

[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with passing on certain marginally +EV situations when it looks like you are obviously stealing. When it is folded to you in the SB, and you push 14BB into the BB, it makes him unhappy, suspicious, and more likely to call you both now and in the future. This decreases your FE and the +EV of your future pushes, especially when it is more important due to the higher blinds. If taking the blinds would not significantly help you, I pass on these marginal situations. Do most experienced players here agree with this?

[beeyjay]

i think this is pretty standard to pass on. 10 BBs seems to have become the accepted cut off point between pushing and doing something else... obviously thats just an arbitrary number thats been going around for a while i think that eastbay kind of made more official or something i think but in any case its a decent guideline i think