One preflop decision with a middle pocket pair. Most players see two answers here and a third they would rather not think about. At 25bb the equilibrium has four — and the one that looks like panic is the one the source names for this hand.
Hand info
MTT, 9-max. Blinds 0.5 / 1 with a 12.5% ante from every seat — 1.125bb of dead money before a card is dealt. Stacks are 25bb effective.
PREFLOP · 25BB EFFECTIVE · ANTE 0.125BB
BTN OPEN
9-max table. Hero is BB with 25 big blinds effective. BTN OPEN. Hero holds 8s and 8d.
Hand history
Pre-flop
It folds to the button, who makes it 2bb — a min-raise. The small blind folds. You are in the big blind with 8♠8♦ — a middle pocket pair — 25bb effective, and 1bb more to call into a 4.6bb pot.