Hi guys

Let´s see if you can help me with these hands.

Both are the same FT and all villains are competent regs...specially the guy to my inmediate left he was a pain in the a****, abusing me with his big stack and 3betting me without mercy...

So with these stack sizes and this situation do we

1.- Open small and fold to a raise by a bigger stack
2.- Just shove


Hand 1:

[converted_hand][hand_history]PokerStars - 600/1200 Ante 150 NL - Holdem - 7 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG: 26,578 (22.1 bb)
Hero (UTG+1): 23,999 (20 bb)
MP: 48,069 (40.1 bb)
CO: 34,392 (28.7 bb)
BTN: 7,886 (6.6 bb)
SB: 19,244 (16 bb)
BB: 13,832 (11.5 bb)

7 players post ante of 150, SB posts 600, BB posts 1,200

Pre Flop: (pot: 2,850) Hero has 7 7
fold, Hero raises to 2,640

Hand 2:


[converted_hand][hand_history]PokerStars - 500/1000 Ante 125 NL - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by Holdem Manager 3

UTG+1: 12,254 (12.3 bb)
MP: 19,831 (19.8 bb)
Hero (MP+1): 16,484 (16.5 bb)
CO: 44,294 (44.3 bb)
BTN: 21,211 (21.2 bb)
SB: 11,361 (11.4 bb)
BB: 22,889 (22.9 bb)
UTG: 25,676 (25.7 bb)

8 players post ante of 125, SB posts 500, BB posts 1,000

Pre Flop: (pot: 2,500) Hero has A J
3 folds, Hero[/b] raises to 16,000

Include payouts when posting FTs so you can get accurate ICM info. I used a generic 200 runner template for payouts.

My first thought on hand 1 was fold because of the 3 short stacks, and ICMizer confirms that it isn't a shove, and 77 is a bad hand to raise/fold so you should just fold it.

Interesting enough, shoving A2s is much more profitable than shoving 99 here. Probably because A2 blocks calling hands and 99 doesnt.

2nd hand is a shove and its such a good shove that I dont think it belongs in a r/f range. We want to r/f with our best hands that can't shove and that block our opponents from having strong hands, balanced with some monsters. AJo might be a raise/fold candidate although it is still a profitable shove.

Oh ! I didnt know you can use ICMizer for PFR ICM ranges !!!

Ok, I get the general idea...and I suppose there is no "solution" when you suffer acute ICM pressure because of being a middle stack so you just sit and survive, letting the shorter one bust right?

Thanks for your time and analysis

It's because 99 doesn't block primarily and how it generally performs against the calling range.

One thing to note is ICM isn't the end all be all. Not that I'm saying yay nay or whatever but it's important to consider it doesn't factor future EV from winning etc.