Decision against a possible blind steal, when not yet in money

[Madmartigan21]

Villain was kind of a hard person to figure. She seemed pretty savvy at times and not so much at others. She had played well when she was short stacked. She played very aggressively and when other players called her she had strong hands. However, there was one play that stuck out in my head. She called a raise and a reraise all-in by the SB, when she was in the BB with A10o. That play didn't seem to match most of the other plays that I saw her make, so I was confused.

PartyPoker Quarter Million Guaranteed

Players: 1700+
Players remaining: 290
Top 170 players cash
Average Chip Count: 8,000+
Blinds: 300/600
My chips: 5,085
Villain's chips: 10,442

Villain is on the button and I'm in the BB with J9s. Everyone folds to villain who raises to 1,800. SB folds.

I think that she could have had a numerous range of hands besides a premium hand. There's a very good chance she's just trying to steal the blinds. What I'd like to do is call and see a flop with this kind of hand. I quickly decide that I don't have enough chips to do so though. Checking/folding an unfavorable flop leaves me with 3,200. That many chips doesn't leave me any breathing room. I don't want to be compelled to push later on with a marginal hand like A10s, or KJ. So I rule calling out.

I could just fold and wait for a stronger hand later on. However, I need to accumulate chips in order to cash. If I don't catch any decent starting hands in the next few orbits I'll be in the same scenario as if I called and then folded on the flop. My chances of cashing will be greatly diminished.

If she's trying to just steal the blinds, I think that me pushing all-in should make her fold and I'll pick up a decent size pot that will put my chip stack a lot closer to the tournament average. If she has a hand that she can call with, I'm willing to gamble and I won't be too upset as long as I've got two live cards. Like I said above, I feel that accumulating chips at this point is a necessity to cash.

Was my gamble stupid? Should I have folded? Or should I have done what I thought was the worst play and just call and hope to hit the flop?

[tiger7210]

Given your read on the player and calling 2 players with AT, I fold here and wait for a better spot. I would always rather be 1st in with complete junk than calling off all my chips with J9. You still have some FE to push on a steal if it folds to you in late postion. I would need at least K9s or better i think to make a stand here.