How -EV is this call?

[dilligaf817]

I think you're overestimating the risk you'd be putting yourself in with a preflop push. Even a beginner would be hard-pressed to call a push with AJ knowing that the short stack is just about to bust. And even then, there are only 3 hands you're extremely upset to see if he calls (and he held none of the 3). You just got unlucky on the turn and river.

And if you just refuse to push preflop, I think you have to at least raise to 3x. If he calls and pushes the flop in that scenario, your decision is much easier.

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I see now that ultimately I have to just step on the gas here. If the UTG is not as short as he is, I shove 99.9% of the time here. I hope people aren't thinking I minraise for fun here. Like I have said, I was playing weak and conceding the re-steal if he was willing to risk it. I had not been minraising at all before this hand. Others had been, and successfully. It was the least risk I could put at the time. I died trying to ensure the money, which is almost as close to all the time as it gets.

Ironically, the conservative route I took ended up costing me. I won't make the same mistake the next time.