Being on the bubble - Paradoxal

When ever a player talks to me about being on the bubble, he almost always talks to me about how it is important to tighten up.

I reckon that on the bubble, blinds start being costy, and if you got there, its because you were playing fairly well, why would you change your style of play, and maybe make the bubble, but not the final table.


Every pro I hear talks about how it is important to be more agressive on the bubble, yet I read in forums many good player talking about experiences and how they tightened up on the bubble.

This is a mystery to me, when I am on the bubble, I am even more agressive, what about you?



Btw, when I reach the bubble I almost always make top 15.

It depends on the prize strucutre, stack sizes of players, your goals, and so on.

If you are so short that a double up will not increase your chances much for deep money, why risk bubbling out with nothing?

With deep stack, you can steal from the small stacks.

yea i agree wit sasskesse..it really does dpend on how much you have..if you really dont have a lot of chips then ya your gonna go all in or fold but if your like the bubble avg. stack then there is not reason to try and double up and still have a significant less amount of chips than the leaders and risk your trny life gettin that far..if you have alot of chips then yea u will be more aggresive and try and build it even more bc other players are playing tight.

If I have an above avg. stack I play aggresive against all that are smaller than me. I still am careful of the big stack, probably more careful than usual.

if i am short stacked on the bubble, i tend to tighten up a lot and camp for cards. doesnt help tho if pot odds makes callers more likely to play tho - i recently got knocked off with AK s vs. Q3 os. at 10 bb il start to camp, if i hit as low as 5bb il go all in with any hand, otherwise theres gunna be some badbeats thanks to pot odds.

I start playing more aggressive, people tend to get uber tight and stealing pots and uber tight folding ensues.

It really depends on your stack, if i'm short of course i tighten up. On the other hand if I'm big I blind steal etc from the small stacked tight players.

zahemp said:

If I have an above avg. stack I play aggresive against all that are smaller than me. I still am careful of the big stack, probably more careful than usual.

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It's true to be careful of the big stacks, but you should also be wary of the very small stacks that are more likely to push on a marginal raise.

Wilko89911 said:

It really depends on your stack, if i'm short of course i tighten up. On the other hand if I'm big I blind steal etc from the small stacked tight players.

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That about sums it up...

I do get very agressive preflop with great hole cards regardless of stack size though. Ya gotta make 'em pay to see the flop or you'll get blinded out.

(this may change if there's a call ATC big stack at the table, then it's slow play trapping time whenever possible.)

Well, I guess it makes sense, you do have to consider the size of your stack.

but I also think that pushing all-in with a short stack, or raising alot pre flop might force people to fold, since your short stacked they will put you on a big hand, or you would have waited on the buble.

I think any stack situations can lead to a good bluff, if you can read your table correctly.

What are you inputs?

twice this week i have ended on the wrong side of the bubble twice which is really annoying, tbh i would say my style of play is better suited for SnG's but i have been learning alot recently and have been playing quite well on MTT's,
each time this week near to the bubble i have had an average stack when there has been about 20 of us left, i have tightened up my play when i should of stuck to how i was playing/get more aggressive and it proved costly as i have just missed the bubble each time, hopefully better things to come as i will treat this week as a learning curve

It really depends on your chip stack. While going for 1st is usually the purpose of playing, if you are short-stacked you would probably want to tighten up to make the money. However, if you have a good sized stack you can usually buy a lot of blinds by being aggressive. But watch out for the other large stacks at the table, they will probably have the same idea as you.

Ah...the bubble.....I usually tighen up if I am not short stacked. If short stacked I will consider all in......cuz any bet that I call will put me in a pot committed scenerio. I usually get in the situation anyway for not being aggressive enough.

it depends on stack size.

small = agressive / more passive when you see you have more chips than you need.

large = tight... let the short stacks bust and kick it in to top gear

average = don't change anything

On the bubble is a good time to increase your chip stack with big raises with good starting hands as most people will not call. If big stacked is the time to just sit back or only bully with premium hands.Try to get in hands without other large stacks. Short stack play very tight call or push with only aces or kings.

alot depends on your stack but with an average stack attack those who u no are jst trying to make it.. steal there blinds get a better stack n make a charge for the final table

Personally, I think its more the prize than the timing that dictates how I'm gonna play the bubble. Small change I tend not to care so much.
Get to the larger prizes and I'll be more aggressive.To scare away the competition. Especially on line.I do tend to tighten up at the live games though. Good luck in all you do.

I know I tighten up - too often I have made the decision to follow expert's advise and be more agressive close to the bubble - and run into that miracle straight or flush. Bye bye prizemoney.

yea i recently tried to be more aggressive on the bubble becuase of this thread..and it didnt work out so well bc when i was aggressive the big stacks at the table would just call trying to knock me out and it seems they always have a good hand or catch something insane? idk if being aggressive works with like freerolls and little money games bc the big stacks will just call with anything trying to knock you out..haha so much for that strategy!

me im agressive on the bubble but like it was said before it depends on alot of things stacks players blinds