This situation came up on another site I play on, but I see it all the time here. We were at the final table and were all “in the money”. At this point, every elimination moves the remaining players up one in the prize pool. Three of us were short stacks, with me being the shortest (just barely more than the BB). Both of the other short stacks were in the blinds; one had about 5xBB and the other just over 6xBB (after posting blinds). Two big stacks limped in in front of me and I pushed all-in in late position. Both short stacks (just) called! And as expected, both of the big stacks called as well (making over 6 BB in the pot). Now, given it was almost certain the two big stack limpers were going to call my all-in, the math was this; by the time the first short stack was to call me, if he lost, and I won (or not), he would be the new short stack. And when the big blind called, if I won he would have also been shorter stacked than me. So why did they call? Would you have called in that situation? By the way, the small blind (first short stack) had JQ off (and lost to a big stack), and the other folded when the turn was bet with a King, a Jack, and two rags on the board. Oh, also, I had pushed with KQ, hit the flop, but lost when a big stack hit his J10 on the river for two pair.
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But the specific hands are NOT the issue here. The issue is this; if you are a short stack anyway, and another short stack is all-in, and you know at least one other big stack is going to call the short stack, why would you risk any more of your chips (especially with a marginal hand)? If the all-in looses, you get a “free ride” to the next position, and still have chips left. Yes, if the short stack wins, you may now be the short stack, but you would still have chips and may get lucky and make it up two or more positions later. And the one that got me was when the (short stack) big blind called! Yes, he WAS getting the right odds to call, but it is not always about odds. There were already two shorter stacks in the pot (one all-in and the other seriously short stacked now) in front of him, with two big stacks behind that were almost certain to call. If either of the shorter stacks won the pot, he would now be THE short stack. If they both got all-in and lost, he was already going to be THE short stack anyway. Does any of this logic make any sense to anyone?
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By the way. Just for the record; I love it when players make those decisions. On the occasions my hand does hold up, I triple up (or better) and am no longer “the short stack”. Somebody else is! GL and be careful at the tables.
swighey
I agree 100% but there is an exception. It makes sense to call like that if you have a monster hand AND will need at least two double or triple ups to have a fighting chance - then you might as lcall hoping every one will call and just shove and pray whatever comes on the flop. I won a tourney like this once with QQ. I was short enough to shove or fold but I limped and then was gonna shove even if A and K came on the flop - they all called and I had a stack and didnt have to risk all again.