Preflop situations, borderline/short stack

[drtofu66]

BB got his stack by doubling up twice by sucking out -- 1) calling an AI with A7o (vs QQ) at the 30/60 level after sitting out all game, and 2) open raising AJo from MP and getting into a raising war after the BB (with AKo) smooth called and c/r'd him on a KKQ flop and it all got in (T on the river) at the 40/80 level with huge effective stacks at stake. He's not calling every raise, he isn't reraising much from what I can tell. He's been occasionally sitting out (according to the FT HH replayer) for a few hands but jumping back in here and there. I can't tell if it's a possum tactic to sit out but in case he wakes up with a big hand or he thinks someone's stealing he'll jump back in and play (FT doesn't actively display if someone is sitting out but will show if someone was sitting out at the beginning of the last hand if you look at the HH replayer chat box) or if he's otherwise occupied and playing occasionally when time permits.

I've been really tight. It was my QQ open push that he cracked with A7o to double up the first time (I was going after a player after him who didn't seem too observant and was calling too much with any two broadway cards and I was surprised when villain became active). Unfortunately for me, he accumulated quite the stack immediately to my left and he hasn't been playing any big pots after he got to the 9,000 stack but has has made some plays at the ~1,480 player when shown weakness HU.

Full Tilt Poker
Blinds: $100/$200
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $200
UTG+1: $5855
MP1: $5670
MP2: $210
CO: $1525
Button: $1480
Hero: $3310
BB: $9880

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is SB with Q K
6 folds, Hero ?

What do you do here? Shoving here seems bad. Folding seems bad, too. Limp or raise? If I limp and he raises I think I have to fold unless I want to shove right there (and my read on him isn't enough to make me think I'm ahead here. I figure he's raising with an A or pair). I don't want to go in a 40/60 dog or coin-flip as I don't think I'm that desperate (or am I wrong about that?). Minraise seems bad but my image might make it look suspicious enough to put him to some sort of decision and I can still get away relatively unscathed if he reraises but he'd likely just call. If I play this hand hard I'll be crippled or out. The bubble is still a ways away and I've got a slightly less than than avg stack after I posted the SB.

These next two seem like clear push/fold situations. No reads-- tables just got rebalanced.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t200/t400
(Ante: t50)
9 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t4205
UTG+1: t9595
MP1: t2415
MP2: t10020
MP3: t11357
CO: t10895
Button: t13635
SB: t6103
BB: t15255

Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is UTG with A 5
Hero ?

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t250/t500
(Ante: t50)
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
Hero: t7010
UTG+1: t13180
MP1: t4805
MP2: t3500
CO: t9500
Button: t6390
SB: t3681
BB: t15580

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is UTG with A T
Hero ?

[LimpinAintEZ]

1st hand i raise, but don't push - I have pushed in this spot so much and it has usually worked out very poorly - raise to $500 - the should be enough to steal the blind, but if not you've got a hand that wants to see the flop -

#2 just fold - Not enough chips to make people fold - I think in this spot with that hand, you want to be LP to consider pushing - I don't think you want to call and you dont' want to raise cause that is too much of your stack in there and your going to commit yourself -

#3 i don't mind a push, if the table has been tight - but I don't think a push accomplishes what we want - If we get called we most likely will be dominated - Better to raise to say 1200 here and try to steal the blinds....

i just think your position is bad on these last 2 hands - so much so that its better to fold both of them then to push...but in hand 3 if your table is tight (like most tables at this stage) you should be able to raise and steal blinds here - and if you go to the flop you've got a hand that can hit nicely...14BB's at this stage is a pretty good spot to be - you can play around a little bit and I think A10 here is good enough to try to steal the blinds....Also, being UTG SHOULD get you some credit and not be called by crap hands....

[dstir2]

i agree w/ limpin. the first hand warrants a bet slightly more than a min.raise, nothing more. the second and third hands are fairly difficult considering the imminent inflection points. throw the second hand in the muck considering the utg position and the fact that your stack is somewhat sizable. the third hand is a toss up. i'd lean towards either raising 1500 or folding and reading the opps from there rather than pushing. but, if you feel that the table has been really stiff waiting for the bubble to pass than a push is understandable.

[johnny_fish]

KQ: 550-600, fold to push if he's very tight. Limp/raise if he's aggro in the blinds.

A5: close fold.

AT: Close, your M is 6 which isn't that desperate but there are a few shorter stacks so the effective M you're risking is a bit lower which makes it a push imo.

[AApoker]

KQ, agree with Johnny_fish limp-shove if he is aggressive. Raise and fold to a push if he is tight.

A5 -- I fold here, yes the blinds are about to hit you, but I just hate hate hate A-rag, hands that call you dominate you.

AT -- Bleh, I hate this spot, I think I fold though. I don't want to push into that big-stack, I think I have enough room to go through the blinds once and again most hands that will call your 7K will have you dominated. I just feel you can wait for a better spot than AT UTG.