Bad Time to Bully ??

[therock]

This has happened to me twice in the last week. PS $15 turbo. Big blind = 600.

UG Me - 6000 chips with J,8 off or very similar
Button - 3000
SB - 700 after posting the 300 chip SB
BB - 3000

Both times I pushed pre-flop and was called by the SB with a marginal hand that was better than mine (Q,4) (K,2). I think this would work a lot better if the SB had already folded pre-flop or was on the button. Needless to say, I got the short stack right back into the tournament. Is it better to just fold this pre-flop?

[Shilly]

It's not always on your shoulders to eliminate the shortstack when you're the big stack. Pushing with a really marginal hand here is probably the worst thing you can do--he knows he needs to double up, making his calling range a lot wider. Instead, you should just wait for a decent hand or a good spot to get SB's chips in the middle.

This would be a different story if SB had, say, 1600 chips and the other two players had a bit less than their 3000 stacks. This is an opportune time to steal, because the shortstack isn't desperate yet, and the other two stacks fear bubbling when they could instead wait for the shortstack to be eliminated.

[Mr_J]

Depends how the other 2 will play if sb wins. If they will play tight, why not have a go at him? He's going allin anyway, if he loses it's better that you get the chips than someone else. If he beats you, you should be able to pound them all. The most you lose from going up vs him is that your image will become looser (J8).

" I think this would work a lot better if the SB had already folded pre-flop or was on the button."

Yes.

[Mr_J]

First of all, you're a coinflip vs SB random hand. Since you will be risking 700 to profit 1300, you're getting good odds. It's fine to make pot odds calls when you have a very large stack. If you win you have another 1300 chips. If you lose, you have plenty of FE to continue to steal with.