How desperate is the short stack all-in?

[napawino]

I'll post the specific situation, but I'm hoping some more experienced players can add their two cents worth...

Pokerstars $10 2-table SNG. 8 people left. Blinds 50/100 Average stack is just over 3000. 5 players have about T$4000 and three of us have around $1000.
I'm UTG with T$1350 and get 77. I limp. The button and small blind limp, the BB - who started with 950 before his BB - pushes in his remaining 850 to go all-in.

My thought process is this: He's the small stack at the table. He's already put about 10% of his stack in the pot as his big blind & he knows the blinds are going up soon. Considering that he had 3 limpers, he might make this play hoping to take this pot pre-flop with a fairly large # of hands:
AK, AQ, AJ, A10s, KQ, (QJ & J10 maybe)
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55

Heck, I've seen people successfully make this play with 62os, but I didn't figure him for that much of a maniac.

Considering that I'm a favorite over half of these hands, that 8th pays the same as 5th (& perhaps because 77 was the best hand I had seen in a while), I call. Everyone else folds. He turns over 88, but a 7 hits on the flop & I take the pot & knock him out.

He then proceeds to berate me for the next 5 minutes for being an idiot and several other people at the table chime in also about what "bad players" there are in these games. I resemble that comment normally [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] , but I really didn't think I was behind at the time I made the call and I was in a position that I had to gamble a little myself. Of course if I KNEW he had a higher pair, then I would have folded, but I thought it just as likely that he just had overcards.

So, was this a bad play? More generally, what hands are wise to play against the desperate short stacks? How much does it depend on your stack size? Should I have even considered this bet to be desperate?

Any advice would be appreciated.

-Napawino

[cferejohn]

I probably would have raised that 77 to begin with.

In any case, I don't think it was a bad call. Your range of hands seems reasonable (even a little conservative; some players would push in with more aces than that). Ignore the berating.

[DrSavage]

I don't like the call but i like reraise all-in fine.

[wayabvpar]

If I am playing against a short stack, I want to be the aggressor most of the time (and when I am not, I am hoping to induce an all-in from him because I have a monster). Make HIM make the decision, not you. If you raise before it gets to him, he has to put you on a hand and make a decision.

I think your opponent played the hand much as I would have. In your position, I think I lay my hand down (bitterly), and hoped to wake up with a big 'un soon.

[ThaSaltCracka]

I can see why you called, that is a very good spot for the BB to steal, especially if it is short stacked. Gutsy call, especially since the pot odds weren't very good, and if you had lost you would have had the BB with only 450 left after paying the BB.

I have seen people call with worse hands, so don't let there comments bother you, you should be happy because now you will probably get paid off when you have a hand.

[Scooterdoo]

not a bad play. Your hope, of course, is that he has one overcard -- something like A5, then you're a pretty good favorite. More likely he has two overcards. If he has a higher pair, which is possible too, you're in trouble. Personally, I like to be doing the pushing with a low to medium pair and rarely call all-ins. This way you have the added chance that your opponent will fold. It wasn't too bad a play and you needed to double up soon so don't let them bother you.