Final (taking the low), penultimate or late hand - One Advance or Two Advance. That's a lot of combinations, so from your experience, maybe answer the scenario you know best rather than my specific scenario. Thanks. Rule; LS is available. There were 4 players left and one advances. The one hand I recall and would like to reconcile was with 4 hands remaining, so there was a slim chance that half my stack with three wins on the last three hands could win me the table. I LS the 4th to last hand. I was all in and far behind BR1 (calm but not very knowledgeable), fairly far back of BR2 (crazy lady - hoping she would throw her chips away) and about even with BR3 who was all in (calm and smart, maybe knowledgeable). He did not LS and eventually won the table. The dealer showed a Ten up and all three players had poor hands. Thinking that most of the time, all players in a hand have the same result, I surrendered hoping they would all lose and I would be alive to shoot at the last three hands. BR3 would be gone, BR2 would be injured and seemed like a ploppy, and BR1 was a bit confusing to me (in hindsight, I should have known she was getting lucky, had med-low skill and would be vulnerable on the final hands). If we all lose the 4th to last hand, I'm out. If we all win, I am still way behind and most likely, still have to win the last three hands. It looks like the dealer is going to win so rather than be knocked out, at least I have a shot and BR1 and BR2, who would have lost some chips. I late surrendered. I may have been acting last but didn't note this. Thanks for some feedback.
Surrender is a viable choice here, but for me it also depends on how bad your hand is compared to the others. If you were acting last and the others had stood stiff or maybe with 17, I would be tempted to hit and hope I can swing the whole table. If a couple of players have 18 and 19, I start liking the surrender instead, and hope for a dealer 20. If half your stack is still a long shot even if the dealer beats everyone else, you probably need to take your medicine now. Hit and play the hand to win it instead. I’ve often been criticized for surrendering in spots like this, but I agree there are times when it makes sense. I was near last place in the $1 million Hilton semifinal, and surrendered 16vT with a big bet out and two hands to go. Many players still disagree with that play. I still like it even though it didn’t work!
I agree with Ken here. You were already in last place and needed to gain more ground than just half from your competitors. Sometimes you just have to take a risk! You said all 3 players had poor hands; so that tells me that no one had 18 or 19 so in your position I probably would have hit & MAYBE even dd depending what your hand was.... Go Big or Go Home !