A silly raise?

I'm getting really frustrated at the moment as I seem to be continually going out on the bubble.

I've just been in a micro stakes sit and go game. I didn't really get any hands at all, but managed to get down to the last three mainly by stealing blinds and raising at the right time.

With the blinds 200/400 I was in the small blind and got dealt a pair twos. I had around about 900 chips. The third player called, so I was left with the decision of calling for 200.

Normally with a pair of dueces, I'll try and limp into the pot and see if I can pick up a monster. However, on this occasion I went all in:

- It had been a very conservative game, so I was hoping to pick up the blinds.
- I didn't have many chips and so was looking for something to try and double me up.
- I figured a call would only have left me with 700 chips which wasn't a whole lot to double up with at that point of the tournament, so I felt it was all or nothing.
- I had a pretty tight table image - as I say, I really didn't have any cards so hadn't played many hands ... and the hands that I had played to pick up the blinds, I hadn't need to show.

Needless to say I got called by a pair of 10s which held up and I ended up going out on the bubble again.

Was it a silly play?

So, I'm thinking this is a 6-max SnG, and I really need to know chip counts to give good advice.

I think you mean by "the third player called" that the button called, and you're the SB with 22. You have around two BBs here, so you really have to go all in and hope for a double up, unless one of the other players is shorter than you which is unlikely.

However, on the points you mentioned

- I really don't think anyone's folding for 500 more chips.
- Yeah a call is not an option. It should be all in or fold once you have less than 10 BBs.
- Table image is irrelavant at micro stakes, beyond "is he a maniac?".

Post hands in the SnG forum to get more advice :D

um, depends on chip stacks. But with such low M you have to either push or fold. It's unlikely anyone will be folding to your all-in. Any pair has you dominated (only two outs) and any other hand without a two (even 73o) is 50-50 to beat you. I'd push with 9tens here before 22 i think... i fold and push the next hand hoping for two blind folds...

i will el oh el silly

The real question is not whether to push or fold. The answer is obviously move in. But I ask, why were you so low that you only had like 2x BB? Unless you just lost a hand, you need to be pushing a HUGE range before the blind eats up a third of your stack. Read HOH for a very detailed explanation of this.

personally, i think playing 22 with a shorter stack on the bubble is horrible. anything that calls you is in a "race" with you, or has you 80/20. neither of which is a good spot to go in. youre better off with A8s, imo.