This is what I put them on:
UTG - Small pocket pair like fives
Seat 3 - KJ off or something the like
Button - Suited connecter

With an all-in bet all these hands should fold. A 2000 raise should make them fold but why risk someone calling.
If you raise to 2000 and someone has trapped you by limping in with a big hand you are pot commited to call now anyway. So, just get that out of the way and force them to fold their marginal hands by moving in and picking up that money lying out there.

I don't like the 2,000 bet. You're making a semi-bluff move here and I don't think it's a good play unless you're on the button and just trying to steal the blinds. Against three limpers and the button... you will only be called (or reraised) by a better hand.

I'd only push half my stack out there if I was absolutely prepared to push the rest out there after the flop no matter what. Otherwise, what do you do when one of the limpers then reraises you all-in, cauz they've got you covered???

I also can't see folding if you don't fear a raise from the BB... why throw away your cards. You definitely need to keep the mindset that post-flop, if it doesn't hit you just right, you check/fold.

So, In tourney play I'd just complete. You take a chance that you hit a perfect flop, 4 to a straight or flush, or an Ace with an 8. If you don't hit it, you check/fold and be done with it, if you do hit it, you push all-in there.

The flop is when most decisions in hold em are made. It costs you very little to see this flop, and if it hits you perfect you have a chance to put you in a very strong position if it hits great.

If there were just one limper, and the BB to worry about, I might change my view and take a stab at it with a reasonable bet. Just too many chefs in the pot on this hand to make the move.

<---shocked at the # of people that say call.

if you are 11-1, you;'re still in the SB and STILL shortstacked. only if i was 11-1 to hit two pair or trips would i just call.

push.push.push.

the only person that could have a hand worth calling is the BB. if UTG limps, and otherrs limp behind him....then they dont have a raising hand (i.e. a hand that can call your all in).

i go all in. everyone folds. i rake the pot. i show just the 8. then i say "dats no limit baby"

Fold. With this many in the hand, and a poor drawing hand, I think you're likely dead money. What are the odds that with 3 limpers and the BB left that nobody has a better ace? And even if nobody has a better ace, you're out of position for the rest of the hand. Complete? Heck no...you might as well push all in. You cant get away from it if you hit on the flop because you have no visibility.

Much rather have suited connectors in this situation. Only a miracle flop is going to keep me in this hand, and there's no way all the limpers are going to fold to a push, so wait for a better opportunity.

fold, fold, fold that crap.

I would raise to $2000. The three limps do nothing to indicate strength. There could be an A10s-A2s, some broadway connectors, or some small PPs out there. It's unlikely that there are pockets higher than 88 or AK-AJ, or there would've probably been a preflop raise already. By raising, you stand a good chance of pushing A10 or A9 out, and maybe any broadway connectors (even though you technically want the broadways to stay). You are raising to isolate; hopefully anyone who sticks around will have a low PP and will get scared of a high card flop, if such a flop happens. If someone pushes all-in behind me (unless it's the BB), I'd still put them on a low PP and call for the coin-flip. If the BB pushes, then it's time to re-evaluate.

But, of course, I suck at NL MTTs.

A-8 offsuit... need 4 to a flush or straight, even then only one is the nuts (A-High flush or straight, assuming the straight comes without 3 flush cards.) To play for the flush or straight it is very likely you are going to have to call all the way to the river without a made hand, as the big cards to the straight will probably pair the opponents, and there is the possibility someone makes a non-nut flush on the flop or turn.

Even if you catch the A, you are likely beaten - your kicker sucks. The only hope you have is 2 pair or the miracle boat.

I suppose you could call because of the 1ox odds, but honestly with this hand I think it is a mistake. If you do catch something, it better be a monster or you are going to be caught in a trap.

I think the realistic options are push or fold, and the real answer comes down to how well you know your opponents. There is the one obvious tell that the UTG is weak, but what about the other 2 limpers? Several realistic possibilities are A-Q,A-J, A-10, A-9s, 99, 88. These are hand they might normally have raised with but chose to limp because UTG limped in. Not to mention that just because UTG limped he isn't holding A-10 or A-9. If you push and get called you are more than likely beaten and probably dominated.

I say fold. A-8 offsuit just doesn't offer enough outs in a potential multiway pot.

What?!? If the loose limper folds, everyone else will too? I dont see any rationale for this whatsoever. Presumably seat 3 has higher limp standards than UTG. The pot is indeed large, he has you covered. Unless his lead over you is marginal, he will call your push with any kind of limping hand. He will re-raise you're 2k to put you all in. Are you really making your stand with A8 off?

To those advocating raise/push options: Do you want a call? Because I pretty much guarantee you get one. A8 off is a trash hand. I wouldn't even limp with it from most positions. You serisouly putting your whole tournament on it? You might as well be pushing blind with it. It's not much better than any 2 cards. A8 off is a negative EV hand. The table is full.

I'm going to go out on a limb. I may look stupid when DN posts the answer, but I think any kind of raise is absolutely horrendous.

Call. I would check blind. If I get anything less than 2 pair, I fold to a bet. If I hit then check raise. Its that easy...

ummm so you are saying somone will call 3.5K (1.75 to 1) with a hand yet didnt raise preflop? hmmmmm (and by 'hmmm' i mean that you're wrong)

In a word yes. We dont know the exact stack differences, but the bigger the difference, the more hands seat 3 (or BB) will call you with. Am I wrong? Doesn't the chip leader call a push by the short stack with any playable hole cards?

There's a lot of money out there waiting to be taken. The two limpers have shown weakness, so I would pump it to 2,000 in an attempt to steal the money that's out there. That's a significant enough amount that you will either win the pot or find out pretty quickly that you are in trouble. I think putting all your chips in at this point kind of screams weakness, so that wouldn't be an option for me. If my raise gets called, I still have a chance to win the hand, or get away from it with some chips left.

Exception: DN's quiz didn't suggest any read on the second limper, so that might affect my decision.

yeah, you missed it, read my post

and when you quote me, please have a clue.
the utg is probably the strongest hand of the 3, so if you move in, and make it bt him, your probably in good shape for the other 2 to fold
this probably makes no sense to you since you didnt understand my post.

thank you

if hes an idiot he does
wow, nice logic lol

Didn't read any of the other posts (i'll read them later)...


It would be helpful to have some kind of read on the other limpers as well as some more information about how many are left in the tourney, how close we are to teh money, etc...

But given the information, the best outcome for the hand seems to be to win what's in the middle without seeing a flop.

There's 2300 in the pot with the antes + 3 limpers + the big blind +you in the small blind. If you raise to 2k, that puts the pot at 4100 giving any one better than 2-1 odds to call you - and you're out of position with a weak hand. I think the raise to 2k envokes disaster.

Going all in here puts the pot at 6300 and making it 4k to call (3-2). Going all in also negates the position disadvantage that you have. However, I can't see A8o being the favorite to anyone who would call the all in, in fact, you could very easily be dominated. Going all in here is a good play iff (means, 'if and only if') you think all 4 others in the hand are going to fold. This requires a good read of the table... which we really don't have in the example.

I don't like the fold here because you might just get to see a flop here for only 200 more with 2300 in the middle; 11.5 to 1 if the BB taps the table!


If you call and hit something like 2 pair, you might just win a big pot off of someone else with an ace. If you don't hit the flop (say you hit only an ace), you can easily get away from this hand and you are on the button on the next hand, then the cutoff, etc - definitely positions you want to be in! You very well might be able to pick off the blinds and antes once or twice in the next few hands! Outside of that, you still have another round to look at some hands and maybe catch one. I don't think you're in desparation mode quite yet.


Therefore I think the best option is to call and hope the BB taps the table. I'm guessing I'll be in the minority on this one though since many people would say calling here is a 'weak play', but there's not a whole lot of strong moves you can do with your chip stack, and I think the call is a good math play and that is different than a 'weak play'.

I vote call.

You call, its only 200 to you, and A-8 isn't that great. If you can't figure out how to play it from there, you need to hit the books. There is also a (somewhat weak) case to be made for folding or going all in. Raising is an almost worthless play with that chip stack , especially if we are talking about a tournament.I was suited

Didn't mean to take so long to get back to this but if you're still interested in my answer: it is still yes.

You're short stacked and going to need to make a move soon. If you get to this flop for 200 chips you're hardly any worse off that you were if you folded. Think in terms of your stack after you double up. Let's say that on the next hand you pick up AA and push your entire stack in, get called by KK and double up. If you don't make the call with A8o you've got 8,400 chips if you did make that call you've got 8,000 (ignoring the blinds on your all-in hand). So you're not a lot better off.

You're also not very likely to pick up AA any time soon so you're not going to be guaranteed to be dealt a hand worth pushing all-in with in the next few hands (during which you really should be making a move). Sure you're a long shot to make a winning hand on the flop but you can easily pick up a couple thousand chips if you do and buy yourself another lap or two around the table (or better yet double up on this hand).

Normally I wouldn't say that you should call in a tournament simply because you are getting proper pot odds to. I'm saying that it's the correct play in the this case because it is just so cheap (2oo chips doesn't mean a lot to even you right now) and the odds are just so good.

Never raise when a re-raise will make you throw up - Doyle

Call

Being first to act after flop prevents a raise

I would call with 7 2 offsuit in this position.

Also if you are a good player, then there will be a better opportunity to get their money. Why take a risk for what could be your last hand on what could be best considered a marginal hand? Better to wait for a chance when position AND a good hand give you a shot at those people holding my chips.

I dunno man... There are a good number of hands that are OK to limp in with UTG that are actually raiseworthy from late position when there are a number of limpers.

It's true that maybe they don't have a hand that would call your all-in, but then again, they might have a decent hand, and a whole lot more chips than you... and maybe they see that you are trying to steal, in which case even if they have a reasonable hand, they will call just for the chance to knock ya out.

I personally do not see what's wrong with just calling and seeing the flop. The argument for the push is to try to steal the pot. OK... I understand that. But if you are wrong about what even one of these guys are limping in with, you are out of the tourney. End of story... and you made your move before you had to.

If you're right, OK, you pick up a good number of chips, but the odds that none of the 3 limpers nor the BB has a hand is small, and if even one of them has a huge chip advantage to you, I think they will call with any 2 playable cards.

I mean, you said it yourself, even if you discount all the limpers, if the BB has a solid hand, he'll either call your all in, or push himself all in to isolate you.

I say see the flop cheap, if it's not great, bail. If it is great, go all in there. You end up with the same result if you hit right, but if not, you save yourself the cash and you can make your move when you've got better cards.

I still think there are just too many players here for you to make that move preflop with A-8o.

The only reason this makes no sense to me is that DN specifically says that UTG is a loose-limper, and will often fold to a raise after limping. UTG is the only player he gives a read on, and it's completely opposite to what you're saying.

I think the raise to $2000 is more intimidating than the All-In, because it signals that not only is your whole stack going in, but you *want* at least one caller. If you're up against AK, well, bad luck, he's going to be calling you whether you push pre-flop or stop-n-go on an aceless board after putting 6k in the pot.

Of course, I'm no high-stakes player, so I could be wrong.

I think the all in is more intimidating in this situation, shows you're looking to double up and are confident. All in makes them realize they dont' want to double you up.

depends depends depends depends...

but other than that im all in

i have not responded or put up many posts but, I love to browse and read all the posts on this site. However, I agree you have three choices.....call, raise, or all-in. I do not like the first two options at all........if you just call you are now first to act after the flop w/ no real info on the strength of your opponents...so even if u do hit an Ace.....is it good? Everyone seems to like the raise to 2k. I do not like it very much either.....I may dislike it more than the call. Here are the reasons.... people may be more willing to gamble agaisnt you since they know now it would cost them only a lil over 2k more the rest of the way during the hand, if u push it. So they could call with a variety of hands ranging for Ax, suited connectors, small pairs,or Kxs. Now that you just put in half your stack and someone calls you have to play in first position w/ people behind you with an A8. I say push it in.....you should get the suited connectors to fold....and maybe some small pocket pairs(3s -6s). More importantly can someone call 4k more with an A9 or A10? I think with the utg limpin already the other two wouldve raised with AJ or better....or even maybe a KQ. I don't see why they would limp in with these hands. I think its time u make a stand and try to double up......you are down to only 10x bb. you are shortstack......you got to try and get chips somehow, why not in a pot with 3 limpers and possibly dead money in it already?

another thing I think the reason DN informed us about the UTG is that we should assume that the other players at the table realize the he is loose/limper and likes to take flops.....even with this info they still limp?? what does that say about their hands? if they know he would fold to a raise, y not put one in? i think he told us this to show us that they don't have very strong hands either......or i could be way off...thx for readin this

Calling is a poor play here. Your in shitty position with a shitty ace which you wont know is good if it hits. If it doesnt hit you probably cost yourself another $200 anyway. If you are not worried about the early limper playing second hand low, you should not be too worried about putting in a raise here, the other two limpers are liekly in the pot for the odds.

The choice is now between raising to $200 (half your stack) or the whole nut. Rasing half your stack makes you somewhat pot committed as well as gives any opponent 2 to 1 on his call. It is unlikely that the later limpers are storng enough to call an all-in given that they didnt raise the intital bet. Your a short stack, time to get agressive.

At 4,200 left, you are nearly short stacked. It's raise or fold, as far as I can see. I'm surprised by the amount of people who voted to call... at this point, if it's good enough to call, then it's good enough to raise.

Been lurking for a very long time, reading the forum and the Blogs and love these quizzes so much that they prompted me to register to answer this one.

- I do bet $2000.

We know the limper UTG is weak and can be pushed of the hand, and if we think the other two players have a hint of this as well then we can't completely ignore the possibility that they're limping with Ax to see what the flop is knowing that UTG can be pushed off.

We know that we're covered, but we don't know the other stacks involved. If Seat 3 and the Button are comparable then after UTG releases his hand the person in Seat 3 isn't faced with the calling your bet (and the remaining 2K in your stack) he's faced with possibly calling 6+ K behind him. So he either calls with a real hand, or releases a bad one.

The Button can get in Heads-Up, but you'd have to like your chances better against 1 hand than against four (*if* the big blind only checks if you call).

You have a good chance of getting into the flop against a reduced field, or just winning the pot outright and adding 50% to your stack.

- I don't go All-in.

Overbetting the pot is going to shrink the value of an already weak hand, and while it still puts the decision on the other players it removes any option you have of making an after flop play, or release. The $2000 is the right-size bet for the pot while still giving you options.

- I don't Fold.

There's a lot of money in play, about 50% of your current stack size, and it's just waiting for you to make a play at it.

- I don't Call.

In your best case scenario, calling gets you to the flop against 4 other hands, which drastically narrows the flops that can help you. In your worst case scenario, faced with 4 limpers one that s/he knows is weak and one that's short stacked, the big blind bets the pot, or jams it. Congrats you've given away 5% of your stack because you can't make that call.

I think calling is your worst option here because essentially you're throwing out money that you're very unlikely to be able to recoup, and even if you do hit your miracle flop, you're unlikely to make any $$ on it.

I'm All-In.

Right now, you figure to be a slight favorite against 3 other non-premium hands.

If you just Call, the Pot goes to 2650, and you've left the door open for the BB to steal.

If you complete and then Raise 2000, the Pot becomes 4650 and you only have 2000 left. That means any subsequent bet you make offers the other players a minimum of better than 3.3:1 Pot Odds.

Nobody, so far, has indicated any strength. If you're going to play this hand at all, play to take it down right now.

Dunce

Except there's a 4th hand involved. The BB is sitting there, has you covered and hasn't had to act yet so you have no idea what he has. I don't think you want an all-in call there, and throwing a raise of 2000 out to make the pot 4650 is effectively a declaration of being pot commited (since anyone going over the top would be giving you 4:1 on your remaining 2K) without having to actually go all-in. But it still offers you an option to get away from the hand if the BB is a tight player and goes all in, or if the flop hits sub-optimally.

While the raise brings you right to the edge of all-in, it still leaves you options, where the all-in doesn't.

There are certainly a lot of things to consider.

First, you're getting pot odds of 9:1 to make a call here. Granted, the BB is still to act - so that needs to figure in to your calculation a little bit. But, those odds are just too good to pass up with A8o. A call is definitely in order at the very least.

Okay, but do you really want to play A8o v. 4 opponents? Probably not. An Ace hits and you could be forced to make some tough decisions. So, you'd like to thin down the field a bit (or win the pot right there) and a good $2000 raise just might do that.

I think you're read on the opponents is a big key before considering a raise. Will anyone limp/re-raise? What types of hands are they just limping with? Someone probably has a low-mid pair. There might be a few big cards too. Essentially, how are they likely to react to a raise right now? Daniel says the UTG is likely to fold. But there are still 3 others (and I have no read on the BB yet) to act. I don't think a raise is going to take the pot at this moment.

Okay, a bigger context is my stack versus the blinds. The call is close to 10% of my stack. A $2000 raise will commit almost one-half of my stack on A8 out of position to pick up $1800.

I just think that a raise is a little too aggressive at this point. You're committing to a hand that will be tough to play out of position. I think with fewer opponents a raise here is a good play, but right now, it just seems risky. Just call for now and re-evaluate on the flop.

Folding makes me want to cry, and "it's A8offsuit" or "you need to hit the flop hard to continue" and anything like that is just awful reasoning, unless it's qualified with the statement "I am not skilled enough to make any sort of bet, raise, or call after the flop unless I hit a miracle with this hand." At that point, what hands DO you play, even when you can see a 2200 chip flop for 200 more chips?

Without a shocking read on the players, a push almost has to be profitable. Even with the pessimistic conditions of getting 1 caller 60% of the time, and only winning 30% the times you get called, you're making chips. You have a read on UTG limping with weak hands and folding to raises. One other limper trailed in behind him, and somebody limped on the button, and people are convinced that this means that one of them has a "big hand?"

I think the real question in my mind is, does completing make more money than pushing? I don't think so, so I'm probably all in. This is a beautiful situation for a push, where the pot is large enough to make a big difference, but your stack is still large enough to carry a good amount of fold equity behind its push.

Also guys, why are you afraid of the big blind? Sure he can wake up with a big hand sometimes, but the fact that he hasn't acted yet doesn't intrinsically mean you should be frightened. Do you know what it means? That he has, for your purposes, two random cards. Sometimes they're aces or kings, but there's a whole lot of trash that qualifies as "random." Even though they haven't shown much strength, any one of the limpers should be more "frightening" to you than two random cards.

heres how i see it.

the utg limper is probably not that strong judging by the read we have on him. the early position limper is probably playing a marginal hand. it is less likely that the epl is holding a premium hand because of the utg limper. the epl would most likely raise with any premium hand. it is even less likely that the button has a premium hand as he would definately raise with 2 limpers in front of him. i would put him on a large range of marginal hands.

now its is out turn to act. to call is not a bad play. u can see a flop and hope to hit. but u are leaving 2250 in chips just sitting out there waiting to be claimed.

folding is not really an option as there is 2250 in the pot and its only 200 to call. ur getting more than 11-1 on ur call.

lets look at the 2 raising options now. u can raise all in or make it 2000 to go. to raise all in is a pretty intimidating play and will get most hands to fold and u pick up a decent pot. even if u do get called, ull still be at least a 30% favorite to all hands except AA. but u can really find a better spot to get all ur money in with. do u really want to put ur tournament on the line with A8. suppose this is the one hand that the utg limper has a monster. u gave urself no chance to see how strong he really is.

ok. now comes the option that i think is the best play. when u raise to 2000, ur putting a lot of pressure on the people that are still in the pot. the big blind is looking at a raise and 3 people still to act. he will not play unless he has a monster hand. the same goes for the utg limper and the early position limper. the button might consider a call, but he probably doesnt have a hand worth a call. he also knows that for u to raise into 3 limpers that u probably have a very good holding. the reason why i dont like the all in is because if any of ur reads are wrong, then u are stuck with ur decision and u have to let the cards decide. if u raise to 2000 and are played back at by any of the players, but especially the big blind and the utg limper, then u can give them respect for a monster hand and fold leaving urself with 2200 in chips. that gives u 2 more rounds to find a better spot to get all of ur money in.

My question for you is Why? Daniel specifically said the following...



So... Why do you think UTG is the "Man to be worried about"? Lol... he's the least of my concerns!

Jayson you don't have "Lol" him for giving his opinion.

Give the guy credit for still being leary of a UTG limper, it's still right to give it second thought.

I don't know if you just made this quote up or merely have taken it completely out of context. But following this quote always and literally would mean you could NEVER bluff, and I assure you Doyle knows how to bluff. Following this quote in a tournament would mean you could never steal blinds, and if you can't steal blinds then you just arent a good tournament player.

IMO this is a clear raise or fold situation, calling is by far the worst option.

I dont like raising it 2k that puts 4450 in the pot and only 2k to call giving anyone with a decent hand or suited connectors and chips to play with pot odds to call. I also dont like raising 2k and saying your leaving yourself "options", if you would even consider folding if someone pushes back at you then you shouldnt be raising half your chips as a short stack.

In my opinion the play is to move allin or smooth call and hope to hit a big flop. That said I would shove them allin and not think twice about it. If you noticed that UTG limps and will fold to a raise then surely others who are in the pot already have noticed and would try picking up the pot right there. I cant imagine the 3rd limper on the button would slow play a PP or big Ace with that many limpers in front of him. I would push allin and be pretty confident that I had the best hand or was a slight dog to a small pp.

Allright perhaps I was a little harsh by laughing? Sorry Y'all!

But the reason for this still stands, in this situation I'm not worried at all about a pre-flop UTG Limper. Daniel stated that this guy has done this very often with weak hands so with that said, we need to take it into account. This is the only player we have a read on, so lets use it.

You misunderstand the full meaning of the quote. When you raise with trash, a reraise won't make you throw up because you're presented with an easy decision: fold. If you raise with a decent hand and get reraised, you throw up because you're faced with a tough decision. In those cases you would have been better off limping and seeing a cheap flop.

What he said.

If I'm Daniel, I'm not going to put out half my stack to be faced with a possible re raise by the BB who I have no information on yet. And if I get re-raised by BB, and any of the others call, then how good is the ace trash? Auto fold, but you are now super short. The next hand is your button, and you have plenty of chances to steal blinds when there is only blinds in the pot. In my albeit limited Tournament experience, I see limpers with strong hands wanting more limpers more than I see it in cash games.
And a strong call takes away that play from the 3rd limper who wants to be raised so he can get paid off for his slow play of ace 9, which dominates your hand.

Put another way, 1st limper is Johnny Chan, 2nd limper is Chip Reese, and the BB is Chris Moneymaker...........Now how strong is your desire to put in half your stack?

I'm with Splash here. If the UTG has been limping weak previously, anybody coming in after him is going to raise a strong hand to steal the blinds plus his limp.

To my mind that means the only hands of concern is the BB and the UTG.

The BB is a random hand and as we are nearing short stack territory we need to start taking some risks and should be willing to ignore him.

If the UTG is open limping a lot, it tends to indicate a weaker player so it is unlikely that they would be holding a monster to limp reraise with, so it is likely they have a mediocre holding.

All of the above suggests you are facing non-premium hands and 1 random hand. Stealing this pot is going to increase your stack by about 50% - an opportunity too good to pass.

With A8o out of position you really don't want to see a flop. It is a real hit or miss hand and even when you do hit with an Ace you never no where you stand. So I think raising 2000 is a mistake, as it gives any caller rough pot odds of about 2-1 making it correct for a large stack to call against a number of your likely holdings. When you see the flop you are in no-mans land if you miss and would be all but crippled if you chose to fold.

All this adds up to an All-in.

There is so much information missing from this scenario that needs to be included to make a decision. I'm assuming this is a tournament, but it doesnt state how many players are left in the tournament, how many chips the players who limped are holding. How much the BB has. What is the moneyline, how far are you from it. What is your chipstack relative to the average. What is the payout difference from 1st place to just making the money. What is your table image. What types of players are still in the pot. Are they aggressive, are they passive, are they calling stations, do they like to gamble. To just look at A8 and say call fold or raise, or allin, is kinda elementary. Valid points can be made for all of the above choices given more information. Also, there isn't just one answer. In many situations any of the choices would be the "correct" play. In the end it will all come down to the fact that you have to make one and stand behind it.

B

I voted for move all in. Calling with a weak ace is rarely a good idea. If you flop an ace then what? Let's say you bet out when you flop an ace, then get reraised... what do you do then? I think a fold is better than a call here, and moving all in to steal the blinds is the best option.

Let's assume that the second limper and the button have the same read of UTG. If either has a real hand, they would (and should) raise. That they called signifies probable weak hands. Odds are you are most concerned about the UTG player limping with a premium hand, but since he folds to a.raise sometimes, it is reasonable to assume that he would fold a medium pair here.

Consider the situation. I argue that this is a spot where you should consider going all-in regardless of the two cards you actually hold. You're short-stacked and it is a good spot to pick up chips. Limping in is a bad option for exactly this reason: the big blind may move in behind you. I will often move in with a hand like 98 suited in this spot.

I feel that an analogous situation is the 2004 WSOP main event hand where Dan Harrington shoved all-in with nothing after a preflop raise and a call by Greg Raymer and Josh Arieh. You have just enough money that other players will think you might not be desparate and call you with hands like 77 or AJ.

I'm not looking for an ace, I'm looking for 2 eights to fall, or 3 cards that match my ace suit. ace falls I'm figuring 3rd best hand, and I check fold. ace eight falls I'm all in. 2 eights fall and I check raise all in. No shame in looking for a great flop. That's why we all play those low suited 'connectors' that DN loves.

Tournament play here, big win with good flop, smallest loss possible with missed flop.

If you raised here the 2,000 or went all in, and flop comes ace king queen hearts are you going to stand up, walk out before the turn and say over ands over, why didn't I try for a cheap flop.

Miracle flop comes and you're going to have 4 fish on the hook with at least a double up, possibly a triple up.

If you feel you are honestly too short handed to try to see cheap flops, then fold is correct option and try to get big hand in the next 30 hands that you will get because you didn't put it all in with an at best marginal hand.

I see why you feel you can push out everyone with an all in. But don't you notice in tournaments it's such a common thing for players to feel it's their job to knock off short stacks more than build chip stacks? One bone head with ace 9 who should fold all day to your raise is thinking, I can bust out DN in this scenario.

If one person calls your all in, you've taken all your skill out of the picture and decided to coin flip him. If two people call, you've lost your skill and all your chips, but the buffet will have more food on it when you get there. If you call, your skill is still a factor and you can still make an all in play if you get a decent peice of it.
If the BB goes all in, then he wins because he had position, something you DON'T have so don't play like you do.

A fold has an expected value of 0. You are getting over 11:1 on a call. You don't think A8o has a positive expected value getting 11:1 in this situation? I don't think moving in is horrible, but I think the same player that would raise your flop bet would probably also call your all-in.

I have to vote for the all-in move. In another post someone said that the UTG limper tends to set off a chain of limpers. I have seen this to be true as well. People will tend to play increasingly weak hands because the price is right to try and hit a flop. We might be getting trapped by the 3rd seat, or even the button (with the button being more likely but also harder to read because he's on the button). That being said, the pot is 50% of your stack and this is a great opportunity to really increase your chip count. Most likely, the all-in bet forces everyone to fold. Possibly, you are called and in deep trouble. Possibly you are called and in some sort of race. I have to go with the most likely possibility and try to get more chips to win the tournament.

This response asssumes that this is the final table of a tournament. In that spot it is time to make a move and try to take first place. If this is early in a tournament or a cash game then I would call and see a flop. Most likely folding to any action unless I flop a set of 8's or 2 pair.

My rank of choices...
1. call - 11/1 pot odds on the call. only 5% of your stack. If you miss so what (Risk/Reward ratio in yur favor)
2. Raise 2000 - I agree that this bet shows more strength than pushing all in, but I do not like throwing half of my chips into the pot with A 8. Is this the hand that you really want to go out on.
3. All in- I actually hate this play because you are only getting called by a better hand.
4. You are really never more than 4 to 1 preflop dog so folding while getting 11 to 1 is just wrong.

In this hand I am most scared of seat three. It is very possible that he has a hand like AA in my opinion. Considering that Daniel said that we have seen UTG limp then fold to a raise, why it not possible to think that seat three was slowplaying his AA with all of those behind him hoping that someone would raise and then he could go over the top. Most likely if we know that he limps weak then folds to a raise, seat three does prob too. Maybe he was looking for UTG to hit the flop and trap him.

I know AA is not a hand in which you want to see a ton of multiway action, but he acted early and did not anticipate that many limping behind him. UTG is prob weak, as prev mentioned, and the button is calling prob with great odds and position.

I risk only 200 chips by calling and look for a great flop, if not great and on to the next hand, and I am still in the tourney with 10x BB and the BUTTON !!

Ditto

Good point that if DN noticed UTG's habits that it makes sense others would too.