Advise for those who miss the bubble?

[jbosker84]

The most frustrating thing in my online poker life is spending hours in a tournament just to bust out right before the cash! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I usually have a "middle of the pack" chip stack and before I know it, I am short stacked and forced to All In on a sub par hand. I am trying to learn to be humble and now accept advice. Please, if you have any ideas; I am an open blank page!

 

[gryphon3005]

Ah yes, I know a little of what you are talking about here. Your mid-pack stack looks very good when you've increased your stack with a couple of timely wins. You relax. You become a little more selective without really realizing it. Then, bang, you suddenly realize you're in trouble and you need to get more chips but the cards aren't there. Been there, done that.

What I realized I was doing was ignoring the effect of the rising blinds on my stack. If the blinds are going up, say, every 5 minutes, you can find your 30BB stack is now only a 15BB stack in just 10 minutes. If the cards aren't coming you still need to find a way. I start thinking about who I can attack at my table. I decide to apply pressure with aggressive betting but just how depends on my perception of my target and, post flop, the flavor of the board. Some times a large pre flop raise will win the blinds. Or the same bet may get a call but then I will consider a very large post flop bet. I thinking here that up till now my tight play may buy some pots. I will also consider floating to the turn r river and then shoving. Basically it's make or break time and you need to take action.

 

[acemenow]

lol happened to me tonight. Was 3rd in short stack on the bubble and pushed all in by someone with just a little more than I. holding 44 in BB I was ready to fold, but decided F-it, if I wait another orbit I may not get another decent hand. Was card dead for a long time. (in retrospect this would have been the right play since there were two other short stacks below me, I should have waited with such a weak pair).

When I am playing on point, I usually pay attention to two things along with much else but these two usually help guide me in how I play particular hands- 1) My M value 2) my rank in the game.

If I am playing "smart" I am good with the middle of the pack. Until I find the right opportunity to exploit. Like tonight. I jump to a rank of 7 out of 50 left or so and as gryphon3005 stated relaxed too much. And all of a sudden I am fighting just to make the money. Missed many opportunities because I was being too conservative as well. Then again its a fickle balance you need to find.

 

[Minus272c]

I have also been struggling with that problem once.
Now i just play a stack and position game, so when im near the bubble i usually have
a decent stack or im way gone

I will never let myself blind down to 5 or 10bb stack by being passive or card dead
periodes. I will find spots to reshove medium hands with 20-25bb stack.
I will push a ton of hands when im arround 15bb or lower, and sometimes if your lucky,
you actually get good hands as well

Its better to burn out fighting than fading away :icon_king

 

[proud2Bwhack]

be way more agressive the whole tournament, insist on being in the top 20 percent even if it means shoving and getting knocked out sometimes. all the money is in the 1-3 place finishes.

 

[proud2Bwhack]

if it sounds crazy to you just try it for few tournaments until it pays off big then make up your mind...

 

[Sirwahl87]

It's better to burn out than fade away

 

[Luvepoker]

It not about cashing but winning the tournament. Top spots pay the best and that's all you should think about most time. On the bubble you need to think about getting in the money but it should not be the only thing. I have seen some odd things as well on the bubble. I have shoved a hand in late position in live games on the bubble and have been shown hand I could not believe they are folding just trying to make the money. The best was pocket queens. If you are missing the money a lot look over your history and see if there is a pattern to it and be brutally honest with your self. I could be just a run of bad luck or you may see where you are possibly going wrong.

 

[greatgame230]

Hi, first you are obviously a good poker player because to have a large number of chips and possibilities to be in the money makes you better than many who say goodbye in the first minutes of the tournaments, modestly and without considering me a great player I think that could be some of the following reasons:

1) You lose aggressivity in those stages of the tournament
2) You should check the schedules in which you tend to play maybe the fatigue overcomes you
3) check if there are factors of that moment that make you make bad decisions, I mean call unsuitable hands in incorrect positions, these factors to which I refer are basically the first that I mentioned before.

What I've mentioned is my reading about the problem you've expressed, I want to clarify that I'm not criticizing you, it's just what I think can happen when you're near the bubble

Greetings

 

[bc2017]

Try to pick up the blinds of people playing super cautious - don't be reckless but try to pick up pots when opportunities become available. Always be aware of the aggressive players at the table who you think could try and bully you out of the pot.

 

[playinggameswithu]

Change how you play each action in the hand. Winner take all tournaments are played much differently from typical MTTs. If it is an omaha tournament don't play any hands literally.