Bubble Play

Some help needed
always falling on the bubble what am i doing wrong i am getting the right cards to play but always falling should i stop until i am in the money and then play?
Its hard to pass with AK or QQ

Nope, except in very specific circumstances, your focus as you near the bubble should be on winning. The payout around the bubble is insignificant. Excellent opportunity to exploit those who think minimum cashes matter. Play the hands you mentioned aggressively.

The bubble is busy playing, but I'm with JJ +, AQ + push I've never played so that the fight for minimum winning.

Whats the buyin, blind structure, no. of opponents at that time, position? etc.

Whats your rank relative to the bubble?

It depends on many things.

Play it safe around the bubble Playful always says. Once you past the bubble you can play more loosely and win more money

is the time to explore the other players, squeeze them and make more money, do not play for itm but for the first

On the bubble ur stack has a lot to do with ur choosing of what hands to push, well in my opinion. I mean A-K suited is the best drawing hand but it is still only a drawing hand. If ur short stacked and u get AK and go all in u will almost always get a call from the bb. Time and time again my big drawing hands get called by bb with !0-7, or something like that, and then its a race or coin flip if u will. Pocket pairs 10+ for me usually will instigate an AI while in the short stack. Now if on the bubble u have a decent stack then u have the opportunity to steal some blinds due to the tight playing. I would usually not like to leave my tourney life in the hands of a drawing hand or a coin flip

I think at most tables, you should be even more aggressive than usual on the bubble and loosen up your range because NITS will be folding AJ and AQ with like 10 bbs trying to sqeak into the money.

You may have heard the old saying "do the opposite of your table. if your table is loose, play tight, if your table is tight play loose" and this is generally accepted to be true and sage poker advice (with a few exceptions).

So the problem with advice like this:

PLAYFUL1 said:

Play it safe around the bubble Playful always says. Once you past the bubble you can play more loosely and win more money

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is that this is exactly what everybody else is usually doing around the bubble, and as a result playing uber tight on the bubble is actually much less "safe" than it seems. You're all equally likely to just slowly blind out together while 1 or 2 table bullies essentially doubles up or better without even taking any big risks.

SO BE THAT GUY! don't be the scared little churchmouse trying to squeak into the minimum money...in the words of Vince Vaughn "Be the guy in the rated R movie....You're So money, Baby!"

Losing before the money sucks. I usually need to get lucky 3 or more times to make the money.

PLAYFUL1 said:

Play it safe around the bubble Playful always says. Once you past the bubble you can play more loosely and win more money

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or, since most players think like this, do the exact opposite to this


EDIT- Oops, jacki already posted the above, didn't read it until i posted this, but yeah, +1 to jacki

Many freshers get nervous at bubble play...dont sweat u will get better by experience...
I suggest you to play only good hands at bubble and that too aggressively and fold all moderate strength hands...

You need lots of aggression come bubble time as most newbies want to play safe and will just fold to you with moderate hands.

I do agree with the "be aggressive" strategy but only in the right position. If u are out of position then that AK ur being aggressive with might get caught by AA or a pocket pair which turns into a coin flip. position position position

Open your range and raise in position always. You'll be surprise that everyone will fold to unless they got premiums or super short stack. When someone shove, decide based from the strength of your cards.

Kenzie 96 said:

Nope, except in very specific circumstances, your focus as you near the bubble should be on winning. The payout around the bubble is insignificant. Excellent opportunity to exploit those who think minimum cashes matter. Play the hands you mentioned aggressively.

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rodrigoudf said:

is the time to explore the other players, squeeze them and make more money, do not play for itm but for the first

Click to expand...

AWW_DIN said:

On the bubble ur stack has a lot to do with ur choosing of what hands to push, well in my opinion. I mean A-K suited is the best drawing hand but it is still only a drawing hand. If ur short stacked and u get AK and go all in u will almost always get a call from the bb. Time and time again my big drawing hands get called by bb with !0-7, or something like that, and then its a race or coin flip if u will. Pocket pairs 10+ for me usually will instigate an AI while in the short stack. Now if on the bubble u have a decent stack then u have the opportunity to steal some blinds due to the tight playing. I would usually not like to leave my tourney life in the hands of a drawing hand or a coin flip

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All good advice... every bubble situation is different, a lot to consider including stack size...

About the bubble can be write a book .That is a very general and difficult ...

The answer depends on: how aggressive players left, how aggressive players on the right, zise stack all players, as we are aggressive, as far as we are aggressive in the opinion of opponents and even from that "as far as in the opinion of opponents, we have to think about how we are aggressive in their opinion..

In other words, well, absolutely impossible to answer very accurately this question, you need to read a lot, watch and play own ..

Totally agree with Kenzie. Play those hands aggressively. If you lose you are simply the victim of bad luck. If you change your strategy, you will surely lose more than you win. I always feel its a bad place to bust out but thats only inside your head.

bigjay

I think a lot of people play the bubble too aggressively. I mean yes it is the best time to take adventege of loose players but in the end it all depends who is on the the table with you, what kind of players.

It good to do also with your stack conditon,and how many player

left to ITM,for example if you already shortstacked with only 5bb left

and meanwhile there were only one player left before the money,then

it wont be wise to shove with speculative hand pre where you almost gonna

get called instantly by the overwhelming bickstack and busted empty handed.

oreska7 said:

I think a lot of people play the bubble too aggressively. I mean yes it is the best time to take adventege of loose players but in the end it all depends who is on the the table with you, what kind of players.

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Actually, it is the best time to take advantage of TIGHT players. If you find yourself on the bubble at a loose/LAGGY table then is probably is best to play tight. But normally they will all be playing tight and scared folding hands like AQ and 88 with a short stack and you can take advantage

Around the bubble could be the best thing if you are a large stack or the worst if you are a short stack. I like the idea of being aggressive because a lot of people play to cash instead of playing to win. It all depends on the table and aggressiveness.... Pick your spots and steal blinds, you do not always need a monster near the bubble to play. Pick on others to help yourself.

no,its good to play premium hands on the bubble because your opponents will fold weak hands,suitted connectors or small pairs
the only thing you should be careful is when your opponent in the pot have a big stack because its very possible to push you all in or trying to bluff you

Totally agree with Kenzie. Play those hands aggressively. Many will play lose in the bubble, is the perfect time to exploit weakness and double up, don't play thight

missjacki said:

Actually, it is the best time to take advantage of TIGHT players. If you find yourself on the bubble at a loose/LAGGY table then is probably is best to play tight. But normally they will all be playing tight and scared folding hands like AQ and 88 with a short stack and you can take advantage

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I agree with this. In the beginning, I was playing super tight around the bubble, but it really wasn't working. I'd end up too short on chips to really have much of a shot, and end up largely blinding myself out. I've since tried to adopt a more aggressive bubble/near-bubble style, and it seems to be going better.

You should play more aggressive, but try not to shove or bet big from early position. Try to steal more from late position. Defend your blinds against stealers and very important thing is to avoid calling when some1 shove bcoz even with most playable hands u will have only slight edge over him. Try to build your stack with fold equity