A5o in SB on FT with 4 players left?

[pothead]

5k guaranteed $30 R&A on Titan....unfortunally they don't provide hand history so I have to recoup the hand manually.

4 players left.
One was the chipleader when we got to the FT but have since then been sitting out and have about 25k.
Blinds is 3000/6000 and I'm folded to in SB with A5o.
Button have 40k, me 50k and BB little over 100k.

BB have been very donkish but scaringly lucky and he been at the same table as me most of the game.
He called my all-in with JJ quite early in the game with 57o and hit trips with 5's. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]
I also saw him all-in beating AA two times, once with A4 hitting trips and once with KT hitting a two pair.
He has not been making so many crazy calls lately tho and I been successful with my last few steals.

To me it seems quite obvious what is the correct play in this case, but since every time I end up at the FT i finish 4th-8th I'm starting to get the feeling that I have a lot of room for improvement in this kind of situations and would like to get a second opinon.

So...whats my line?

[mornelth]

I complete and see the flop... no need to get crazy being second in chips with one guy sitting out (espcially since Titan makes it very obvious whether someone is sitting out or not).

[PhatPots]

I think I would push, there is 9k in the pot plus antes. I recently read Harrington on Hold'em and he talks about these situations. A5o is ahead against a random hand. Pushing gives you the most fold equity. IF u raise, then you might get re-raised. At these stages of the tourney, do you think BB will call you with junk?

If you call and BB checks, then u see a flop. If you miss, will u bet, if so, how much?

I could see a call, but blinds are so big

I prefer a push

[pothead]

I was thinking along the same lines as PhatPots.
I'm not really keen on playing too much poker with A5 and an M around 5.5
I hate to call if he shows strength with a re-raise, and if he checks I hate to make a CB with almost a quarter of my stack if I miss the flop.
Unless I hit at least a two pair it would not like the comittment I probably will have to make get to showdown.

Sure I could gurantee that I at least end up third by playing very cautiosly with one player sitting out, but 4th pay 444, 3rd 555, 2nd a bit more than 1000 and 1st almost 1600.
So the only thing that really matters would be to make sure I at least get to HU.

I have trouble seeing that I would get there by having a survival strategy with the blinds level where it is, so since A5o have some 57% equity against a random hand and the 9k in the pot would be a welcome addition to my stack I opted for the push.

[betgo]

I push almost any two here.

[bambam16]

I'm pushing any A here, your M is about 5.5 and you've got a hand that's favored over a random hand. Plus you still have enough to significantly damage the BB's stack. If you keep folding in these situations not only will your chips decrease, but BB's stack will increase because of the walks you're giving him, making you even less threatening.

[Emon96]

[ QUOTE ]
I push almost any two here.

[/ QUOTE ]

Readless I agree, but i want to know if the BB has been donkish AND aggressive. If so would it not be a bad play to just complete expecting a raise from any two, allowing us to then push with the best hand in most situations. Does this cost us too much fold equity to be profitable?

If he is not aggro and just a lucky donk then yes...poooooooooooooooosh.

[pothead]

He was both very loose and agressive earlier in the tourney but he got berated quite a bit and seemed to tighten up considerably at the FT, so I was not really sure where I have him now.
Like I said I done a few sucessful steals of his blinds and figured he would only call with at least a half decent hand.

Earlier in the game I would expect him to raise with pretty much any two if I would have just completed, but the way he's been playing at the FT I think chances are that he would let me see the flop if he didn't have much of a hand.

In this case he held KQo and knowing that I think he would have raised me and I would probably have folded.
That line would have kept me in the tourney, but on the other hand I was a favourite also against his holding and had a nice opportunity to end up in a very nice position to take home 1st place.

The button was also very much a donk, but far too tight by the FT for his own good...and CO like I said was sitting out.
Considering that I guess that could make a case for folding or trying to see the flop cheaply since I'm very confident I was the best player left and I could been trying to find a better spot than stealing from an unreliable big stack, despite the maths obviously speaking for a push being +EV in this particular hand.

[Quanah Parker]

I would push.
...but here's why I might just complete.
Since Villian has tightened up, I would think he's only calling with a hand that puts you in a coinflip situation, at best. Really, any hand with 2 cards over your 5 and he's got a decent % chance to win. With 1 player out, and 1 player with less chips and ability, you should have enough chips to make the final 2.
Why flip the coin now, when you can afford to wait?

[riverruss]

Titan do have your hand history,you will find the tab in "My Account"