confusing hand close to the bubble

[Trivial]

Seven places before the bubble in a $25 MTT freezeout. I was very confused throughout this hand; at first almost certain that the short stacked limper was trying to slowplay an overpair (what the hell could he have here?!). The button's flop bet looked weak, but at the same time with the bubble approaching I was wary of raising my dangerously low top pair with two cards to come as I didn't feel that player would fold. My table image was particularly poor at this point I think having stolen the blinds three times in quick succession.

Did I play this too weakly throughout... or was it just unlucky? Tearing my hair out a little at the exit so could use some experienced players' thoughts:

MTT Table 1 6377341-104 Holdem No Limit 400/800
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Hand Start.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 1 : gypc has $2,220
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 2 : breezeblock has $3,020
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 3 : sharback40 has $13,560
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 4 : bomb 63 has $17,195
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 5 : WolfieMan has $13,320
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 7 : Saint Vitus has $7,530
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 8 : monkeyboy2 has $17,005
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 9 : J_M_S has $2,260
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : bomb 63 is the dealer.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : WolfieMan posted small blind.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Saint Vitus posted big blind.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Game [104] started with 8 players.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Jan 5 03:30:29] : Seat 7 : Saint Vitus has
[Jan 5 03:30:31] : monkeyboy2 folded.
[Jan 5 03:30:38] : J_M_S folded.
[Jan 5 03:30:45] : gypc called 800
[Jan 5 03:30:47] : breezeblock folded.
[Jan 5 03:30:48] : sharback40 folded.
[Jan 5 03:30:49] : bomb 63 called 800
[Jan 5 03:30:53] : WolfieMan called 400
[Jan 5 03:30:54] : Saint Vitus checked.
[Jan 5 03:30:54] : Dealing flop.
[Jan 5 03:30:54] : Board cards [ ]
[Jan 5 03:30:58] : WolfieMan checked.
[Jan 5 03:31:02] : Saint Vitus checked.
[Jan 5 03:31:08] : gypc checked.
[Jan 5 03:31:12] : bomb 63 bet 900
[Jan 5 03:31:18] : WolfieMan folded.
[Jan 5 03:31:24] : Saint Vitus called 900
[Jan 5 03:31:26] : gypc called 900
[Jan 5 03:31:26] : Dealing turn.
[Jan 5 03:31:26] : Board cards [ ]
[Jan 5 03:31:31] : Saint Vitus checked.
[Jan 5 03:31:34] : gypc checked.
[Jan 5 03:31:38] : bomb 63 bet 1,500
[Jan 5 03:31:42] : Saint Vitus called 1,500 and raised 4,330 and is All-in
[Jan 5 03:31:45] : gypc folded.
[Jan 5 03:31:47] : bomb 63 called 4,330
[Jan 5 03:31:47] : Showdown!
[Jan 5 03:31:47] : Seat 7 : Saint Vitus has
[Jan 5 03:31:49] : Seat 4 : bomb 63 has
[Jan 5 03:31:49] : Seat 7 : Saint Vitus has
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : Board cards [ ]
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : Seat 7 : Saint Vitus has
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : Saint Vitus has Pair: Nines
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : Seat 4 : bomb 63 has
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : bomb 63 has Two Pair: Kings and Sevens
[Jan 5 03:31:54] : bomb 63 wins 17,560 with Two Pair: Kings and Sevens
[Jan 5 03:32:00] : Stakes: 400/800 Current level: 8 Level up in: 10 min. Break in: 24 min. Players : 24
[Jan 5 03:32:04] : Hand is over.

[jezza777]

This is a litle unlucky and typical of the trouble you can get into in the BB. I think that a check raise on the flop is the better play , although it doesnt leave you with much room to move if he goes all in and you feel you have to fold. Once he has hit a pair on the turn then you are not getting him off the hand he has too many outs and there is too much in the pot. Given the nature of the board he may have folded if you move in on the flop he can certainly afford to . Tough one tho he would have to be a tightish player to fold on the flop but a reraise from you would mean he would have to commit a large % of a healthy stack to the hand. I think this is a push or fold situation on the flop. What do you gain by calling ? Calling gives you no more information , it represents too much of your stack , and it swells the pot , any card over a 9 or any heart is a disaster for you. Still this is easy to say in hindsight it is a sticky situation, I think you need to examine why you called on the flop and then decided to commit on the turn when a non scare card came , if you believed you were ahead you should push it there and then and allow him to make a mistake .

don't lose any sleep over it tho

[Longy]

Hard one this and almost impossible to get away from IMO. I would have led at the flop for about 2/3 or 3/4 the pot so about 1500 and then been prepared to throw if re raised. The turn would have finished me as you now have the straight draw and you are both going to get it all in now.

[Trivial]

Definitely appreciate the comments, guys.

I think jezza nailed it to be honest . The flop call was about as much of my stack that I felt I could commit to the hand without feeling confident of being ahead. I suppose I was being retrospectively rather generous by considering that at least one overpair had to be out there, but the betting patterns on the flop/turn combined, coupled with the newfound straight draw odds, convinced me that I had to be ahead when I pushed.

While it was a tricky situation, I think upon reflection that the chips would have gone in either way, and it was ultimately unlucky. Filed and forgotten.

[SupaMonkey]

I think if there was an overpair then they would have raised preflop however i also don't like limpers from early position, it makes me think they have aces however in this case i think he had a short stack so i might have gambled here (actually i think he had something like K-Q, missed the flop and ditched it).

I agree with jezza about the check raise but i think the problem here was that you had too small a stack to be able to find out the strengths of the other's hands. I think you should have made made a decision on the flop to either check raise all in or fold.

[M3boy]

Agreed - decide on the flop if u think u are ahead. If yes, push all in. If no fold.