The Bubble Bully

Last night I played a very enjoyable shorthanded SNG. I had a huge stack (about 90% of the chips in play), down to three... and the two others struggling for a place in the money. I am sure you've found yourself in that spot before.

I'd raise almost every pot, and most of the times the shortstacks would fold. The real question was: who of the two has the biggest balls? The shortest shortest stack! He took a stand with pocket 9s. I did have a real hand, AQs, and they held up. I rubbed it in, pointing out to the other shortstack that atleast the other guy had balls. The taller shortstack would just fold when he had to commit more than the bare minimum and would even fold his blind to the short shortstack if I was not in the hand. And he cried "why?" every time I raised preflop. Eventually, he was down to 300 chips (He had a 2:1 chip advantage over the other guy when it started!) and pushed with A6 and was outdrawn by me.

Heads up wasn't a fair fight: 11920 versus 380 chips. He survived a couple of all ins on the big blind but after a couple of hands it was all over.

The moral of the story:

1) Balls get you ITM
2) All too often I see big stacks duck in the final stages of a tournament, letting the small stacks finish eachother off. By doing that you're giving the survivor ammunition (your blinds + the other guy's stack) to make a stand heads up. The small stack can easily come back to 2-3k in chips when the fight for a place in the money ends and can come back to bite you in the ass. By staying agressive you won't allow them to become a factor in the game.

How do you handle a big stack in the end stages of a tournament ? Do you sit back and let the others finish eachother off, or do you get involved? When you're shortstacked on the bubble spot, do you make a stand or pray that the bubble bully will take the other guy out?

EDIT: Mods, can you move this thread to strategies please? :-)

I agree, if the SNG is on the bubble, i loosen up extremely, as the blinds are usually higher and you can take them down often because everyone is just trying to get ITM. Otherwise, i usually play extremely tight untill i have about 8-10 BB left in chips. Usually just AA, KK, AK, QQ, JJ, and limp with Ax suited or a small pair (all this being for before 8-10BB). Once down to that, i usually look for a hand to push with. Once it hits the bubble, i loosen up.

just won a SNG that way and currently in third in my other

i agree also and if ur chip leader by a ton u have to losen up a lil u wanna go for the kill as soon as u can

I have to agree, i played in a SnG last night and came in third and another today and came in first. You have to watch the other players and take them down

I do this regardless of whether i have a huge chip stack or not.

I note down the most timid players and the ones with a mid stack and attack those.

A short stack is more likely to go all in A-x whilst the mid stack guy is looking to hold out till the money. They are the easiest to push off.