$5 MTT,final table bubble

[Frelo]

Hello,

5$ with 590 entrants, 13 left, I'm 10th. Next paying step is 10th ; then, paying drastically increases up to 690$ [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Blinds are 1500/3000 with a 300 ante.

Seat 2: P01 ($25,201.00)
Seat 4: P02 ($18,062.00)
Seat 6: P03 ($52,876.00)
Seat 7: Villain ($45,836.00)
Seat 8: Hero ($33,547.00)
Seat 10: P04 ($60,149.00)
P01 posts the ante of $300.00
P02 posts the ante of $300.00
P03 posts the ante of $300.00
Villain posts the ante of $300.00
Hero posts the ante of $300.00
P04 posts the ante of $300.00
P03 posts the small blind of $1,500.00
Villain posts the big blind of $3,000.00
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero[]
Hero (UTG) ???

What I'd like to know here is how to handle these situations.

My M is under 5 but my stack is still big enough to put me into top 3 if I double up. People are very weak-tight preflop, as this is the final table bubble.

Shall I raise ? If so, how much ? Push ?

Another question, shall I also keep on trying to steal blinds with air when there's an opportunity - e.g. cutoff/button/SB (that's how I built 50% of my stack in previous rounds) ?

I'll let you know what I've done and why, but first of all I'll welcome any advice.

Thanks !

[hamnegger]

2 options. 1: limp here is why. if raised we fold . we are still ok to shove and double. ppl are suspicious of ss limp trust me so they are strong if they raise. if you get any piece you get it all in. if you get a multi-way pot you have a good opportunity to get chips if you flop hand/draw.

2. fold this is the much more conventional play and one most prescribed on this site.

you are too weak to shove utg

[Frelo]

Very interesting, as I... never thought of this. I guess that's why I'm posting here.

I'd obviously never push here, as I'll be on the wrong side of a coinflip at best, and can easily be dominated. I'm not desperate enough for chips.

I would also not fold, as KJs, in 6-handed, is imo quite a strong hand. (this may be where I'm wrong)

I decided to raise for 10K.

Reasoning : I can still fold if I'm reraised with 6.5BB left, and am likely to get the blinds as people tend to be weak. Raising UTG also can make people feel that I have a bigger hand than KJs.

Let's precise that I played tight ABC poker all tourney long, being something like VPIP 18% and raised 14%. No fancy moves.

Thanks for your answer ! A new point of view.

[Jon_AK]

this situation all depends on the table you're at... A $5 MTT has a wide range of players, all the way from the good thinking, good decision making player down to a total donk who just wants to bust out so they can go to bed.

Your main concern is the BB and how loose you have seen him call. Obviously you're in a horribly difficult spot to catch KJ considering your M combined with position. I liked the first posters reply of limping and seeing how the table reacts to your limp. If it is folded to the blinds, you then can easily push them off because you have just as much sway power as they do at this point after seeing a flop.

If i was in your position, and felt the table had been playing fairly tight, then I would have a nice shove and pray that I'm not dominated by AK or AJ if someone decideds to call. When deciding wether or not to shove, your M is more important than where u stand compared to average stack (with some exceptions when you have a huge stack and can make some really loose calls to eliminated a short stack).

and as far as prize payout, you need to be gunning for 1st at all times. Don't try to hang and squeak into top 10; This is a bad way of thinking that will hurt your ROI in the long run.

So ultimately, if it seems as though this table has been pretty quite... I would push all in. Also try to take note on the BB and think back if it seems as though people have been pushing on him a lot lately because if everyone folds to him and he's sittin there w/ Ax, he may just pull the trigger from a semi-tilt condition of being pushed around too much.

also, you are short handed so the blinds will be hiting u sooner and sooner so you need to be maximally aggressive at this stage of the tournament in order to stay alive/chip up for the final table. You may also see that everone else is thinking the same as you as far as payout structure; Exploit this and use it throughout every tournament you play.


So to sum it up:
1. your M=5
2. you catch KJs UTG
3. table is short handed
4. prize structure drop off/final table bubble is present
5. you have been playing tight ABC poker

I pull the trigger and shove... hope someone comes along to double me up, putting me in the position to take down the entire thing.... but that's just how I play [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[sharkscopeaholic]

4500 is about to hit you but this isnt devastating, especially short handed, i would fold and put (shove) pressure on the two shorties when they get the blinds or if everyone folds to you when youre in sb i ususally push atc. If sb limps into you when youre the bb just push it in, atc. These two situations will happen alot at this point and they almost always fold, in my experience at least.

[LSgambler]

Raise/folding with your stack size is definetly the worst option. Id just prolly fold unless the table was uber tight, which is usually not the case at the $5 tournaments.

Hamnegger made and interesting point about limping in, because i realized that its true that when someone limps in and has a shortstack im always a little bit worried that the he is limping with a high pair.

ok so here is what i think: fold>>>limp>>>>>>shove& gt;>>>>>>>>>>>&gt ;>>>raise/fold

[TPTK77]

Limp pf utg if your table has been playing passive preflop. if your table has been playing aggressively, I would just muck KJs. Your position is extremely poor, and when you do get called, you're usually an underdog, even to Ax.

If the players have been extremely passive because its the final table bubble, then that can be a case for shoving.

Limping is probably best here than shoving.

[kenny7]

My initial reaction was fold,but I like Ham's suggestion of limping for all the reasons he mentioned. I do think though that if the table is super uber tight you can push here