5/45 Stars on the Bubble advice needed

[raindust]

Alright, I lost the HH so bear with me.

8 players left, 7 get paid.
Blinds 100-200 25(i think)ante.
Average stack is 8,000. Short stack has 800.

Hero in SB approx 2400 chips
BB has around 6000 chips. He hasn't made any unreasonable plays that I've noticed.

What has been a LAGGy table folds to me. I push Jc,4c.
Thoughts? If you don't like my play, what do you push here?

[aditya]

Definetely do not push J 4 here. If you do get called, you're behind, and there's no reason to put yourself in that spot with a 800 stack waiting to push. I only push 77+ and A 10 +

[raindust]

If there wasn't a shorter stack would your advice be different? Doesn't Harrinton advise to push with an M of 5 if you have 'first in vigorish?'

[Imrahil]

I don't mind it. Your stack will increase to 2900 if you successfully steal.

[Moose747]

the bubble shouldn't really matter here since all the money's in the top spots anyway. With this stack size, I do like a push over a smaller raise, but I'm playing very tight. Maybe 88+,AQo+,AJs+. I could also see limping some hands like AT, KQ and lower pockets.

Pushing J4s is terrible.

[raindust]

Pushing J4s may very well be terrible. That's why I'm asking. But according to both Harrington and Greenstein's books, it doesn't seem either would approve of limping any hand you play, with the exception of a,a or k,k. If you disagree with them why? It may also be that I have misunderstood what they are trying to say.

[Moose747]

I'm not sure where Harrington/Greenstein say not to limp here. In fact I think I remember a similar situation where Harrington favors limping. The reasoning is, you're spending 100 to play a 500 chip pot. It's not great, since you may be raised PF and you're out of position the whole hand, but 5-1 is pretty sweet.

[Sherman]

Eh...I probably open-fold here. Standard strategy in SNGs is to push lots of hands on the bubble, but typically the blinds are higher and worth more to your stack. Not the case here with a big time shorty at the table.

If it were a true MTT, pushing would also be fine b/c the biggest payouts are for the top spots, but the 45 SNGs on stars don't pay a whole lot more for 1st than 7th like a normal MTT would.

[zoobird]

I push here. Most players in $5 - 45s don't adjust well to short stacked aggression so they're going to give you credit for a better range of hands...and they will fold too much. With your stack size (M around 5) I probably push any 2 from the button also. With an M of 4 I'll push any 2 into an open pot from almost anywhere. I think some (not all) of the people giving you advice to fold are probably many years removed from their last $5 - 45 and aren't giving you optimal advice.

[OddJustice]

Don´t want to be too philosophical. But what´s the goal of the OP, raindust?
Winning that tourney or learning the intricacies of the game, specially the endgame in this specific question?
I always prefer to think about the right decision regardless of the low limit I´am playing (playing $22 now).

In that specific problem, I think the main point is not his low stack (10xBB), nor his prime steal position, nor his holding nor whatever the skill level of his opponents.

I think the main point there is the lowest stack, with 4xBB, soon to be 2xBB.

I would wait more a couple of hands to begin the pushing.
Someone may ask: what´s the point of waiting the bubble burt and guarantee a mere $7,50?

The point is (whichever the level someone is playing): don´t bust before the micro stack.

Or do that knowing what u r doing, knowing that you´re exploiting the bubble, that you´re playing for the top 3 spots.

If there´s no t800 stack, if you were one of the short stacks, I could push any 2 from the SB x BB .... if I didn´t did it for the last 2 rounds :-P