This happened in a live 15-player tournament (part of a league). We're down to 5 players (top three pays), blinds are 400/800 and I have about 13500, or 1/6 of total chips, as does Player B (I have him covered by 100). Chip leader has a bit less than twice as much, but is not involved.

Player A, a loose/aggressive with about 8000, opens from the cut-off and makes it 2100. Player B, a pretty decent player, makes it 4200 from the button. SB folds. I'm in the BB and find JJ. I'm perceived as a fairly tight player and haven't played in a while, so there's no chance a raise will be seen as a bluff.

My feeling is, that's a raise all-in/fold situation. A call would leave me completely in the dark on the flop and out of position -- Player B routinely makes continuation bets. Plus Player A will almost certainly call, so my JJ will have a pretty tough time.

If I raise and win, I become the chip leader and eliminate the other(s). If they both call an all-in, I could lose the main pot to Player A (e.g. QQ) and win against player B (e.g. AK) and be third in chip (twice the small stack) with one less player to worry about.

I'm guessing the right answer is I should fold, because unless I know these guys are maniacs (which they're not), most of the time I will be at best racing. Does the fact that there might be a sizeable side pot plays into this at all? We're only five, so the starting requirement are lower, but is it enough to justify an all-in? Player A could have any two face cards or any pair, from what I've seen -- and Player B probably thinks the same.

I hesitated and went all-in. Player A folded and Player B called with AA and left me with a 100 chip to play with...