£100 sat hand - How aggressive when bubbling?

[FoxUK]

Hi guys. This is my first strategy post so please go easy on me if this is blindingly simple stuff.

The game is a PS $100 satellite to a $1050 tourney. About 14 players left on two tables with 11 qualifying. The table has been tightening up a lot as people try to wait out the next big showdown.

Hero is currently in 6th place overall with the majority of the money on the other final table. No detailed read on button's play but he appears to have been tight and not overly aggressive. Hero has also been watching the play on the other table and is feeling pretty good about catching the place to the next tourney just by waiting for the smaller stacks to start going nutso as the blinds rise higher. 6 minutes until next level.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (9 handed)

UTG+1 (t8210)
MP1 (t6217)
MP2 (t5082)
MP3 (t2665)
CO (t5132)
Button (t5564)
SB (t10435)
Hero (t11161)
UTG (t19675)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">6 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Button raises to t5564</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>.

So does hero call or fold? And why?

[MJBuddy]

With you in 6th and 11 getting paid, I'd be feeling fine as well.

Deciding factor is the average stack here whether or not you need to gamble again. If you do, this is a perfect place, but I doubt you must.

[riverruss]

Are you sure you have got this right,you are saying there are 14 left but you have 9 on your table &amp; 5 on the other?
Your are probably ahead of his range but do you want to do a flip that could put you in the small stack pushbot zone.

[FoxUK]

Sorry you are right on the numbers. Just went back to check and it was 17 left in the game, 12 to qualify, with places 13 and 14 returning original tourney value. I was middle of the field, so about 8th place I guess with the majority of chips on the other table (193.5k total chips).

Will update original post to reflect this (*edit* no I won't. Bah, can't edit responded to posts). Personally, I am not sure my play would have altered significantly either way though.

[riverruss]

Ok your right on average stack so I dont think you can expect to fold into the seat &amp; this is likely to be the best hand you will see for a while.I would have to be calling this &amp; hope it works out,win &amp; you could almost certainly fold into a seat,lose &amp; you still have 10 to 15BB stack to work with.

[FoxUK]

Well, it was an interesting situation and I elected to fold it on the principle that I had just about enough chips to cause damage when the pushbotting started in earnest. I reckoned that I probably was ahead of villain's expected range but because he had been relatively meek up until that point I could not be certain of that and that he could easily have had a pair, making it a coin flip.

What actually happened was even better though. This all in was the catalyst which finally got everyone else to loosen up. Someone was going all in on every hand from now on and, 40 hands later and with the aid of a couple of high pairs, I was in the win zone.

Still not sure if I made the right play or not on this hand, though. Highly situational and it's been bugging me ever since.