Bubble girl

So exactly how disastrous of a move was this:



One table SNG on the bubble. I have 1400 and the blinds are 100/200. I’m starting to feel that special anxiety when you see the blinds coming around and have less chips than you’d like. However, I’ve also been practicing my patience lately, and so I haven’t done anything crazy despite this anxiety.



I’m dealt 99 in the small blind. UTG limps. He’s a tricky player and this should send danger signals flashing through my brain. It gives me even more pause when the next player in (the button since we’re four-handed at this point) limps as well. But here I am in the small blind with 99, a strong hand four-handed. And my stack is dwindling. Of course you know the rest. I pushed all-in. BB folds, UTG types “nice” and goes all-in himself (for about 2300). I take issue with this “nice” because the button folds, but I figure he was probably going to anyway since he only had UTG covered by like 100. Of course he had AA, of course I felt like a moron because that was the most likely hand for him to have and limp UTG on the bubble, of course I got no help and busted out fourth.



Could a better player have laid those nines down and waited for a better spot? Most likely. I’m sure it was an extremely incorrect play. In fact I *know* it was. But I couldn’t afford to just call, and I don’t think I could afford to fold. Or could I have? I’m sure a better player could have, and I’ve probably read somewhere in my study of the game that I’m an idiot for going up against a big stack with 99 on the bubble. So I guess I’ve answered my own question. Anyone who knows mathematically or theoretically how stupid my move was, please feel free to comment below so that I can know *exactly* what a fool I was, especially since I wasn’t surprised to see him turn over that AA. Duh!