blind vs blind, we have 44s with 15bb

do we shove in the small blind? or do we fold to the money?

At that point, I'd personally fold and wait for at least 8 pair or above or one of the other premium hands. Though if on the button or small blind if everyone folded than maybe I'd shove.

There's many options for this spot and also dependent on relative stack size of which the opponent has. So you have 15bb and you're a long ways from the money, no reason to be worried about a min cash being so far away, continue to play your game. So, you have many options, you can limp and play post, limp/jam if raised, raise preflop or just open jam which i prefer is best. If I'm blind vs blind with 15bb an a pair I'm going to open jam in this spot. You should let them decide weather to call or fold an if you win preflop with no action you have increased your stack while moving onto the next hand. At this current point in the tournament being 43 players away from the money you have to continue playing correctly looking to chip up. If you start folding these spots instead of playing them accordingly being too worried about a min cash instead of playing to win you're torching your equity and opportunities to make a deep run. When a spot arises where you often have the best hand an action is on you don't be afraid to play it correctly, sometimes you're unlucky, just part of the game. Good luck.

super easy jam in sb.

thinking about folding 43 spots into the money is just ridiculous.

Originally Posted by ssangyongpoker

blind vs blind, we have 44s with 15bb

do we shove in the small blind? or do we fold to the money?

Shove is pretty standard. Any pair is a monster headsup.

I doubt you will fold into the money with 43 spots to go.

You are short and happy to take down the pot - or even better, get a double up.

I might fold if the BB has 100 BB and would call with anything - because then it is likely he has 2 overs at a minimum.

What hand did he call with??

for me it's easy all-in,even from the position of HJ / BTN

we jam and race against J10

flop 10, turn 10, river 10

villain roughly had 39bb

on to the next one!!

Most of the time shove. Perhaps if there is a huge player field and there are like 8k players payed and 43 left to go, then you will reach the money very fast. But in a small field it is always a jam in that situation.

I would jam with eye closed if its a small field , or very big field where minicrash is pennies. If its big field and minicrash is worth my time then yes I might minirasie and fold to a jam . Otherwise 90% of time its a jam for me

if I am in the small blind and I have 44 I will push all the chips onto the table, this will put pressure on the big blind and we will receive many folds.

I shove with 15BB on the SB 43 players are still many to come out 44 against BB is not a bad idea trying to take the pot or seek to win with that low pair

Originally Posted by ssangyongpoker

we jam and race against J10

flop 10, turn 10, river 10

villain roughly had 39bb

on to the next one!!

Honestly that call never ceases to amaze me - he is left with 24 BB if he loses the hand.

The BB is so unafraid of being behind preflop!

I would steal since it is already close to the bubble and everyone is waiting for the prize!

bet 3-3,5bb + fold if 3bet

Originally Posted by Luan

I would steal since it is already close to the bubble and everyone is waiting for the prize!

43 spots to min cash is close to you?

In this situation stack sizes and what kind of player our opponent is matters. He have bigger stack, more than double, and he can easily call you light. If he lose he is still in the tournament, and if he wins he is closer to the final table. So jamming here is a mistake. I would limp here and fold to a raise if I don’t hit set. Still have 14 blinds to play, and maybe lots of good spots to find.

43 spots to go from what? If you have 500 players left you are about 2 orbits away. Or 5BB if you are folding.

What is your opp stack size? 100BB he have a good chance of calling you.

Real depends if you have info on does he fold to blind steal.

Might be a good spot if the stack size area out equal, but might be a fold if you are half his stack size. Because calling you off he can still make it into the money even if he loses.

Common wisdom is to shove all in. You will see all the pro poker streamers doing it.

Contrary to what others are saying, I do not think you have to auto-shove. Shoving is a viable option but you still have enough play with 15bb to not have to gamble, and if you're jamming from the SB when its folded to you, your opponent will see it as an obvious steal and call light. I think a standard 3bb raise is permissible here. Hands like JT will not be three-betting you here so you can take a flop, and if you do get three-bet, you can fold and still have 12bb left.

Of course, a lot depends on the opponent on the big blind.

A stack of 15 BB isn't bad enough to risk everything with 44. I think all in in this situation will show more weakness than a simple raise. The option with a simple call is also not bad. The disadvantage of raising too much is that you will have to push in response to 3 bets. I would not risk participating in a tournament with a pair of fours.

I think the argument could go both ways.

The obvious choice is to shove all-in because we are fairly short stacked and a pocket pair is solid if we are heads up.

However, if we are called, we are usually just on the better side of the coin flip - yet still gambling. With this in mind, you may want to fold the pocket 4 hand if you believe you are the stronger player with chances to get it in at a better spot (although there is no guarantee the cards will cooperate with the blinds coming for you soon).

What I would avoid is the tempting idea of calling and shoving or folding based on what they do because we lose fold equity from not shoving right away and most good players will put you all-in anyhow (hence forcing you off the hand even if they had nothing).

I guess there are several factors I'd consider apart from the obvious in the specifics of this hand.

What things I'd consider may include:

-Our perceived skill compared to our competition with us more willing to fold if we are better players
-This sounds like a regular MTT, but if the format is turbo or faster, then the blinds increasing may get us to shove more often here so we avoid being blinded out
-Similar to the last point, are antes in play yet? Everyone is answering this question without antes I think, but with antes in play, then we can always be content with shoving 44 at 15bb.

This is a good question, but I would also be curious in asking: "How did you get to 15 bb in the first place?" It could be a number of reasons including a bad run of cards, a bad beat/cooler against us, playing too loose or many other things: but this question is always worth investigating because sometimes the real "mistakes" can be found there.