Q: You are in a $5 DoN with 6 players remaining and blinds at 200/400. You are in the big blind with 1300 chips and are dealt pocket nines. Two players have fewer chips than you: the button has 560 chips and the small blind has 850 chips. UTG has 7800 chips and has raised each of the last 7 hands. True to form he raises to 2000 and everyone folds to you. What do you do?
A: This is a similar situation to when you have AA or KK and don’t want to risk your tournament when there is a short stack close to being out of the tournament. Your pocket pair is almost definitely in the lead right now, but there is no reason to take a chance this late in the tournament when there are two shorter stacked players who are going to need to make a move soon or get blinded out. It can be hard not to call in these situations when you know you’re up against a weaker starting hand, but there is no need to waste your tournament on a hand that is vulnerable to so many flops.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
lame… you didn’t even answer the question… what exactly do you do? call? fold? raise? what kind of Q&A was that?
Thanks for the comment. Sorry, I thought it was clear in the answer that I am recommending a fold in this situation.
There are two players with shorter stacks than you. One player is very, very short won’t make it through the blinds without doubling up.
Although your hand is likely to be ahead of UTG’s range, it’s not so strong that it is worth risking your tournament life at this point.