All-in on the bubble

[sandund]

With which hands would you go all-in in the bubble? Only high pairs or other wigh cards?

I just take advantage of late position to pressure the out-of-position players to fold, because it is a hell of a lot harder to call a push with a marginal hand than it is to push with a marginal hand. Position is a factor that is greatly underestimated by many beginner poker players.

 

[mendiolacubicle]

I remembered a coach telling me that the bubble is the most profitable phase of the tournament, any thoughts on this? ☺

 

[gqr31ff]

it may be either a high hand or a couple or just ace example with eight or nine

 

[p4i7ank9]

I remembered a coach telling me that the bubble is the most profitable phase of the tournament, any thoughts on this? ☺

Can be, especialy when you re a big stack.

 

[VizziVizo]

The most of players are very wick on the bubble.You try not to play any hands and to save more chips to become in prizes.Some people and I try to use this for stealing blinds.I push with connectors mid and high pairs K10,J10,Q10,QJ and others.But it is difficult.

 

[benspocket]

allin on the bubble

well it all depends on my stack and how the cards are running but I will call a allin with my favorite pairs and will go allin on the bubble with them also, I have seen to many times that aces ,kings get bustedbut that's just me ofcouse

 

[trekmaster]

If it is folded around to me and there are shorter stacks than myself behind me I'm subject to shove any two knowing that most times people tighten up at the bubble and will fold big hands just to avoid going out before the money.

 

[abzdolc]

it's better not to push, just to steal a lot of blinds at bubble, but if we are talking about all in- in reg. tournaments 99+; AQ+, in the tournament which is much for us, even more tight QQ (EP), JJ (mp +) TT (CO+) ; + AK+

 

[Lipe110]

It depends really. If you just want to make the money or if you want to win the tournament. If you just want to make the money then basically fold everything. But if you want to win you can't be afraid of playing quality hands.

That being said....I've gone all in on the bubble with aces, lost and it felt HORRIBLE. There was no consolation in thinking that I had the best hand and played correctly. I was out and that was the only thing that mattered.

 

[bnasp2]

Too much general question:
- what stack do you have, are you risking all you chips?
- are you first one going into the pot?
- can you bully the players behind you? (if they have small stack, so they want to just wait to be ITM, but not too small stack, which would force them to risk)
- very important: what is payout structure, do you need more chips?

Example of tournament with very flat structure.
I was playing tournament with payout something like:
20e
15e
10e
10x5e

With my stack I could with 99.9% just wait for those 5e. With my stack I would say I had like 10% chance for better price (being in top 3). With double stack, being optimistic I would say 20% chance.

So loosing = -5e.
Winning = 10% to get extra 10e = +1.0e and this is very optimistic, its less if you are accurate

So you need more then 80% to win a pot to risk all your stack. Even AA vs 89s have less chance (77%). So if there aggressive player with big stack, just fold everything in this case. And you can push AA if you like to risk a bit.

 

[pokernut92poker]

too many variables there too make a decision. table , players stacks and styles.. but I also find that people change there style late . so if i believe I can get away with it i will shouve with several hands, sometimes you gotta gamble.

 

[edaleballer]

depends on the value of the bubble. also always what u are feeling.

 

[or3o1990]

It depends on position and stack sizes to me. Also, image. I try to tighten up before the bubble so I can abuse the bubble a bit more. Also the image of the players to my left. It they're going to nit up and my stack is short I'm shoving any suited connectors 78+ any ace and any two face cards, most all suited kings and a lot of Queens as well. I'm squeezing limpers any chance I get as well.

 

[Ducbim]

I would never fold premium hands at bubble, even I'm 2nd big stack and have to all in against the chip leader. Folding premium hands in tournament preflop is long-term -EV.
Out at bubble is horrible, but most tournament money is awarded for top 3 players, you won't get rich by just hanging out there to make money.

 

[or3o1990]

He's right, you've got to go for it! Today this nutjob was shoving almost every hand. He was in the top 10 in chips with like 70k. He literally got busted shoving 25o and eliminated someone who called him with a decent ace. I didn't want to get busted out in 34th like I did but i knew when I had a hand I had to call this fishtard. So I call with KQs and loose to his A4o. It was a bit maddening but all bs aside this guy stole sooo many blinds his stack was always growing.

 

[lfc]

Too many variables yes but generally around the bubble the value of your chips is much higher than it is in general so people should definitely take that into consideration when evaluating their options . With monster stack you should always put pressure on the smaller stacks around the bubble but with short stack I try to be very careful as sometimes cards that have higher value in a given position lose some of it because of the bubble and people generally tightening up.

 

[Sil3ntness]

I folded Q10 off suit today UTG on the bubble of a hyper turbo MTT today. I min cashed, but I feel disgusted with my decision.

I know I'm not supposed to be result oriented, but seeing I had a queen high straight (the nuts) made me see how nitty I was playing around the bubble. So while I min cashed, all the big stacks were making it to the final table because of their LAG approach during the different money levels.

 

[Timmah120]

Only one hand, AA.

KK would consider many factors position and no. of players, etc.

I need to respectfully disagree with this statement.

In my opinion, you need to start shoving strategically while you still have a stack large enough to do damage to other stacks. Players see that and are more apt to fold.

I assume you are speaking from a situation where you are really short-stacked and are about to burst that bubble, not-cashing. You simply cannot be afraid to be the bubble-boy (or girl). Everyone else at the table is fearing that, so take advantage of it.

I shove with any pair, A-9 and above. But again, it IS, AND MUST BE, a judgement call. Do not ever shove with trash....but, at the same time, do not wait for a monster hand or you will simply be blinded out, OR, someone else at the table will notice that you are scared to play and raise you constantly, knowing you will fold, sacrificing your ante/blind.

Also, being the first to shove has tremendous power. If someone before you has called/raised, you need a stronger hand to shove with overall. If it gets folded over to you, your shove has more of an impact. IF your stack size is enough to cripple the people after you should they lose after they call you, they WILL BE afraid to bust, and therefore, will fold most of the time.

Once in awhile, you will run into stronger hands than yours....someone will have AA, KK, QQ, AQ, AK, etc. There is simply nothing you can do about that...can't win them all.

Just remember: don't be afraid to bust. You want to get chips, and lots of them, if you want to survive deeper and deeper into the tourney after the bubble bursts. Do not be afraid to lose....the best players in the world bust out of tournaments. They are extremely high-variance.

Hope this helps.

 

[cyclone45]

Depends on my stack..small stack I'm folding, usually

 

[Farseer]

With which hands would you go all-in in the bubble? Only high pairs or other wigh cards?

Adjustment is the magic word here.

If I have largest stack in table with shallow stacks, any2 / any4 is occasionally good. If I have small stack with no folding equity in large field, I might even fold anything.

In general, I like playing loose-aggressive on bubble, because other players are usually much more tight then. Easy chips, and most of the time bubble is so small that in long run it makes small difference if I bubble it but huge if I get good amount of chips during it.

 

[nygmen2007]

It truly depends on on chip stack size how much you have what the blinds actually are. I would push with any bubble hands that have value that you can actually win after all the cards are out. WHen I am on the bubble I push with any connectors suited and pairs...

 

[taban13]

Of course it's better to go with a pair of Ollin/but if you have little chips then you can narrow down the range.

 

[rancidcarp]

funny you should ask just had KK crushed by AQ yesterday.
typicaly I stay away from pushing on the bubble for this very reason but how do you say No to KK
lol

kk has cost me bigtime in this psoition..especially at carbon to ace rag . its avoidable.

 

[boris 3ca]

the real question is : when is the best time play all-in on bubble? i think the best time w8 as long as u can . IF u can't w8 because your stack is low like 10%AVG or 5BB the best time is whan u have good position that only one player call you. and lower hand of J 10 conn. is not for ALL In

 

[Sil3ntness]

kk has cost me bigtime in this psoition..especially at carbon to ace rag . its avoidable.

Yeah it's always fun seeing KK lose to Ace rag when someone's desperate to shove any ace during the survival mode of a MTT.

All I know is in the past couple days playing MTTs. AA < 46s AA < KJs QQ < 57 off suit haha I can't dodge them straights when my tournament life is on stake.