Part: Part Eleven - Short Tables

Stealing is mandatory

Pre-flop
5-handed • Blinds 400 / 800Pot 1,200 (1.5 BB)BTNJ♦7♦● 20,000 (25 BB)YOUfolded to youSB● 20,000 (25 BB)posts 400 (0.5 BB)BB● 20,000 (25 BB)posts 800 (1 BB)D

Five-handed. It folds to you on the button with J♦7♦.

Five-handed, folded to you on the button with J♦7♦. Best?

WhyWait for premiums five-handed and the blinds will strip you before one arrives - the button with only two players behind is where you manufacture chips. J-7 suited has position, fold equity, and enough to flop with when called, so raising to steal is the play; passing donates the blinds.
What happensThe big blind calls and check-calls you down with middle pair; your seven-high misses and you give up. The steal was still correct - it wins the blinds far more often than it gets picked off, and one lost pot doesn't change that math.
You can't wait for premiums when the blinds hit you every few hands - attacking the button is required income. Judge a steal by how often it works, not by whether this one got through.

The blinds orbit fast short-handed, so stealing from the button isn't optional - it's income you're forced to fight for.