Big Stacks Going at It

[Precept2]

$20 Home Tourney started with 14 people and we're down to 4 and all in the money ($140-$80-$40-$20).

UTG has about 12,000
Button (me) had 11,000
SB has 4,000
BB has 1,000

Blinds are 500-1000.

UTG and I had been knocking guys out and bullying the small stacks (almost working together, but not colluding or doing anything illegal). We were avoiding going head-to-head.

Here's my dilemna.

UTG raises enough to put both small stacks all-in, when I look down at 10-10. UTG is solid. I am certain that if I fold, I'll get at worst 2nd. If I call and lose, that brings 3rd & 4th into play. What would you do in that situation?

[Shilly]

Well, you're either pushing or folding here. I voted push.

[microbet]

Depends on the player and being a home game you may know him well enough to make a big difference here. If he raised to $4k and you have been generally cooperating as you say, I would think he is, consciously or not, looking for cooperation from you. He is probably not doing this with AA,KK or QQ. So I think pushing is a good alternative, largely for those reasons, but also because the payout is quite steep.

[willperkins]

Depends on what you are after.

I play for the win and push!

I am getting 1.4 to 1 pot odds with the 5th best starting hand in poker.

If I am wrong and he has a big hand and beats me, I get my 20 bucks back.

If he calls and I win, I should win the tourney easily.

If he folds, I add 50% to my stack.

[tshort]

The BB is already all-in? If UTG had JJ+, I doubt he would raise enough to push the players out who can pay him off. Your hand is either a slight edge or dominates him. Considering both cEV and your $EV, I still think it is an easy push.