what do i do here?

[holybejeesusx 0]

Consider this hand from a $10 + $1 PartyPoker sng.There are 4 players left:Seat 5: Filesharer ( $1900 ) (bb)Seat 4: HolyBejeesus ( $1390 ) (sb)Seat 6: scrapdog004 ( $820 ) (button)Seat 2: Cajun_2004 ( $3890 ) (utg)Level:7 Blinds(200/400)I am dealt JTo, and it is folded to me (in the small blind). What do I do here?

[wrto4556 0]

no matter what you want to take this pot. So if you decide to check, bet the flop no matter what cards come. Personally, I would raise him and try to win it right there. You don't have too many chips though.

[holybejeesusx 0]

Perhaps I should of pushed. What I did was call, and the flop came K-J-3 rainbow. So I bet and he raised me all in (what few chips i had left).. I called and he had K8. Was this unavoidable? Or did I misplay it?

[Eskimo 0]

Was this unavoidable?  Or did I misplay it?

It was absolutely avoidable. If im in the SB or button and everyone folds to me, i will raise and try to take the pot right there. Why would you call the BB with a J10 offsuit? You have 2 options, either pump it or dump it. In other words, either fold or raise and try to take the pot.

[Smasharoo 0]

I am dealt JTo, and it is folded to me (in the small blind). What do I do here?FOLD.You're the third stack in a top 3 payout structure.Let the small stack either bust out (putting you in the money) or catch up. If he catches up then worry about playing this out of the SB. Untill then you're playing ultra tight and looking to outlast him.Secure third, THEN play for first.The small stack's going to have to make a play at some point, but for now, let him be the one being attacked and pressured to make a mistake with a margina hand, don't let him squeak into 3rd.Just my humble, etc.

[wrto4556 0]

Just my humble, etc.

lol.I didn't even pay attention to the stack sizes...maybe that's why I suck at tournament play. He's right...You want to secure third then play for first.

[Wilderness 0]

I think you should either raise or fold. Folding has a lot of merits, as Smash pointed out, you are the 3rd stack and you can likely wait for the short stack to make a move before trying to play for first. If that's not how you want to play though, then you've got to raise this hand. Don't give him a chance to hit a lucky flop with crap, make him call your pre-flop raise. Of course, if you do raise and he calls with his same K8, after that flop you are pretty much bound to going all-in and you would have the same result. Personally, I would probably fold the hand.Also, your choice to raise and try to steal his blind should also depend on if you've been making a lot of those steal attempts from the SB/Button throughout the tournament. If you have, then you may want to just fold and wait for short-stack to do something, but if you haven't been then your image is probably solid enough to make him respect your raise and fold his K-8.

[Smasharoo 0]

If you're going to take a shot at blind stealing here (which, again, seems like a bad play) you've GOT to push all in against his random hand.Very common SnG play from the SB when it's folded to you.