[davebwell]

when liveinpeace advised to check the flop and re-evaluate when it gets back to you I originally thought that was the worse advise possible but now I am not so sure.

I think the flop bet was a mistake. He should have raised more if that would actually get people to fold or just limped behind if a big raise only bloats the pot and doesn't get more people to fold. The worst possible scenario is having a very good but not great hand OOP in a multiway pot which is where OP ended up.

Now that you are here with 5 to the flop and a T500 pot you have to ask yourself "If I bet close to the pot, what do I do if I am raised?"

My answer to that question is that betting 400 is going to commit me to this pot for better or worse because if I have to go all-in it's going to be 1050 to call in a 1950 pot and 2:1 is good enough odds against the range of hands that may push at this level"

I figure the reasonable range of pushing hands to be A4, A8, 88, 7c6c, 6c5c, AcXc, 44 and perhaps 2c3c. Then other possible pushes to come from players with any hand with 2 clubs as hole cards.

Now the pertinent question is, "Do I want to commit myself with TPGK against 4 opponents early in a tournament when I am OOP"

If the table is as weak as most people assume I think the answer is there are better times to gamble. If the table is tough as everyone assumes LiveinPeace assumes, I think the answer is there are certainly better situations to risk your whole stack.

Even with this rambling that I've done I don't know that I could check/fold but I can see it as more reasonable than I did when it was first presented.