Hi Guys,

Regular reader first time poster - must say you've got a great site going here. Looking for opinions on a recent hand from a P/stars $11 SnG. I've thought about this long and hard and discussed it with others; but still haven't come to a caonclusive decision.

$10 + $1 single table SnG, 6 players left, blinds are are at $75/$150. I'm BB & short stacked after having [KK] cracked by [Ax], I have about $650 after posting the blinds. My table image is tight as I've only played two hands at this stage, if the other players are taking notes that is!!

I'm dealt [TT], but every single player limps in for the $150, pot stands at $900. What should I do check and see the flop or go all in and hope to get isolation?

This would be a no brainer all-in every time. You're almost guaranteed to have the best hand now but don't want anyone drawing to overcards. If everyone folds it's great, if you're called you're likely ahead.

What he said. All-in everytime without a doubt.

[kiddin]Fold[/kiddin]

Thanks for the replies guys, in case you are wondering this is how I played the hand.

I tought for quite a while before I checked; I just wasn't convinced that I would get isolation. My all-in raise would have made the pot $1550, giving odds of about 5/2 to call. If one of the early limpers called the other players odds to call would obviously improve considerably. One or two limpers and I'm definately pushing, three I'd probably consider it, imo four or five is dodgy.

So my plan on the flop was to check (unless a ten appeared giving me a set) and see how the betting went. With so many limpers even a low flop like [4 7 8] wouldn't necessarily mean that I was ahead. As it was, the flop came [AK7] the small blind led out with about $400, I instantly folded and one other player called. I'm not sure if checking was the correct move, but under the circumstances with 5 limpers I'm still not convinced putting my tournament on the line would be a wise move either.

For the record, and I'm not saying that this makes it the correct move, I managed to double through a couple of hands later and took another large pot in quick succession. With a healtier chip stack in front of me, I started to steal blinds and soon had the table dominated. I got heads up with a chip lead of about 3:1 and trapped my opponent after about 10 hands to win out.

Just because it worked out for me in this instance, it doesn't neccessarily justify the way I played the hand. I could just have easily gone card dead and pushed with a medicore hand or been blinded out. It does however make the debate on this hand a little more complex......

There's no doubt that TT is a nice hand to push with when short stacked. HU I'd most likely be 60 - 70% favourite to win through against the type of hand I'm going to get called with here. Most likely the best hand I'm going to be against is a weak Ace or King. But how good is TT against 3 random hands?

I suppose my main query is whether the timing is right. Can I expect to get isolation against 5 limpers?

just because it is correct for them to call, does not mean it is wrong for you to bet.

5 limpers just means u can't do a BB steal with short-medium stack b/c u will be called. but any decent hand you should push b/c u r looking to double/triple up...NOW.