At what stage do I ignore my M and push all-in?

[jimmer]

In previous posts, most forum members suggest I shouldn't let my M fall below 6-7 before pushing all-in.

How do the rules change when we are down to the final table (9 players) and the top 7 get paid.

For example;

PokerStars Game #27977232457: Tournament #162120746, $1.00+$0.20 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (300/600) - 2009/05/08 19:49:01 ET
Table '162120746 1' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: stix144 (5148 in chips)
Seat 2: bellanie (4535 in chips)
Seat 3: rxl1966 (8965 in chips)
Seat 4: vremen (17800 in chips)
Seat 5: smartassbrat (6600 in chips)
Seat 6: CooLDoWn7 (7065 in chips)
Seat 7: WanM (12175 in chips)
Seat 8: BBQChips333 (767 in chips)
Seat 9: jbdb3 (4445 in chips)
stix144: posts the ante 50
bellanie: posts the ante 50
rxl1966: posts the ante 50
vremen: posts the ante 50
smartassbrat: posts the ante 50
CooLDoWn7: posts the ante 50
WanM: posts the ante 50
BBQChips333: posts the ante 50
jbdb3: posts the ante 50
jbdb3: posts small blind 300
stix144: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jbdb3 [?????]

I have an M of around 3. Am I pushing all in with any two cards even if there is action in front of me?


Hypothetical hand;
chip stacks as above
Dealt to jbdb3 [8c 6h]
bellanie: folds
rxl1966: folds
vremen: raises 1200 to 1800
smartassbrat: folds
CooLDoWn7: folds
WanM: folds
BBQChips333: folds
jbdb3: ???

[golddog]

I don't think so, because you're on the SB. So, you have another round of antes-only to hope someone else gets knocked out (I'm kind of writing off BBQChips as going out during that orbit) or find an actual hand where you're comfortable putting them all in there.

That could be where it's folded to you, and you make a move, or actually have a hand.

Although what I think you're thinking is valid; the big stack is the one which might be able to be moved off of his hand, because he knows that you're willing to go out with whatever you're playing, and he has enough behind he can lose his raise and get away.

I probably fold and wait for the reasons above, but I don't dislike your notion either.

[HalfSugar]

While I agree with your idea, I don't like shoving nothing into action unless vremen raises light pre-flop or will fold to your 3-bet all-in sufficiently often.

If you let the SB go, you are only anteing 50 chips per hand for the next 7 hands so you can definitely wait a few more to find a better spot.

[Gunslinger]

Even when your M is dangerously low and you are one of the short stacks out of the money spots, there is a big difference between pushing all-in first when there is a decent chance you can pick up the blinds and antes, and pushing after any action where the first aggressor will have odds to call your shove. In your hand, the raiser will be getting almost 3:1 to call your shove, and with his stack size, it would almost always be a mistake for him to fold.

Coupled with the above reason that you have 7 hands to pay blinds again, I think I fold and find a better spot this orbit to shove. Preferable opening the action, unless you have a strong hand.