Defending my BB against a likely steal min-raise

[napawino]

I was 30 seconds too late to register for the $30 multi & a $5 started 10 minutes later, so I decided to play. I don’t play the <$10 multis and had assumed they were about the same, but this tourney (or at least my table) was VERY different. Mostly passive pre-flop with lots of limpers. When someone did raise, it was usually 10-12BB with a medium PP or AK/AQ/AJ & some people would call with any two broadway cards. I played tight/aggressive and except for trying a futile bluff or two, built up a pretty good stack. Because none of the money became interesting until places 1-7, although I had been playing for almost 3 hours, I decided I was going to play to win – not to get to the next level & make another $20.

$5 Pokerstars Multi
~1100 people entered, 27 remaining
I have T78,000 (7th). Average is around T50,000
I was moved to a new table where I’m the 2nd largest stack & there are several folks who have <10BB’s left.
On the one round I have seen, the table has been pretty tight. Mostly uncontested raises pre-flop except where the small stacks have pushed & either been eliminated or doubled through.
9 handed. Blinds 1500/3000 ante ~150. I’m in the BB with KcTc. Folded to the button (T35,000) who min-raises to 6000. SB folds. I call
Flop: 7c 9d Jh (Pot ~15,000)
I bet 15,000. Button thinks for a while & calls
Turn: Ad (Pot ~45,000)
I push – taking him all-in for his last 14k or so.
Results:
<font color="white"> Button has JJ &amp; flopped a set
River is a blank &amp; button wins the ~70k pot </font>
My thoughts:
I don’t want to establish a precedent that I’m going to let my BB go from a steal-position minimum raise, so I decide I’m going to see a flop. In retrospect, I think this was a mistake when I hold KT. KT is dominated by so many reasonable steal hands, that I now think I should have re-raised to 15,000 to see where I was. If I had been re-raised I would have folded &amp; if I had been called I would have check-folded to anything but a two-pair or better flop. Thoughts? I hate the idea of folding almost anything here because with the blinds &amp; antes as big as they are, I don’t think I can let people think they can min-raise steal. I plan to also bet the flop unless it’s AAQ or something similarly scary.
On the flop: My thoughts are first of all “He probably missed &amp; can be pushed off his hand.” Then, if he did hit, I have a few outs – Q, K if he has a Jack. Q, K, T if he has a 9, 7 or a lower pair. Mostly because I thought he would fold, I make a pot-sized bet.
He thought for a long time &amp; called. Uh-oh. Given how much he thought about it, I figure he has bottom pair, middle pair, or a PP
Turn is an ace. Although he might have tried a steal with Ax, I don’t think he would have called the flop bet. Furthermore, with the pot at 45k, if I don’t bet, he’s probably going to push in his last 14k anyway, so I might as well give him a chance to fold.
In retrospect, I think this was a HUGE mistake, since I don’t think a reasonable player would fold anything here that he called with on the flop. (Except maybe a low-mid PP) Be harsh! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]