ON THE BUBBLE

[Bev]

Bubble is exciting, and if I have decent cards - I play for sure, and yes position is huge, if no good cards come - then just play on your bb, but have even had to fold that, just don't make any stupid moves, and hope the blinds eat up the sitters so the rest who are playing can move forward - I don't even want to get started on the sitters.
I hate having to play against them - poker stars is great when it comes to sitters - they fold them, other sites like Full Tilt and party poker make you go up against them when they are all in and if there ever is a bad beat - it is getting beat by a sitter ! GRRR

 

[vic75]

It depends on the hole cards you get dealt big pocket pair suited connectors etc
then you play but of course making the money is the end goal and ultimately the final table

 

[buzzmania]

when close to making the money i tend to wait but if there are short stacks in the hand and i have gd cards i will play my game as usual.

 

[scorpion1367]

I can only echo the advice given by most here ,my thoughts are selective aggression is optimal.Always be aware of position and stacks sizes especially if risking your whole stack make sure you have decent fold equity......scorp

 

[italiano]

The theme of the bubble is very interesting! Sometimes me very funny because it's like the game suddenly froze and everyone starts to get scared and I'm not the exeption! There is something that happens to me very often when I'm on the bubble and I play very good hands, but as I have fear of being eliminated and not charge because of AA, KK or QQ usually fold good hands and lose myself to increase my stack!

 

[robertgraves7]

Thanks for the info. I've noticed that players slowly tighten up as the tournament progresses(not always) and things change a little when you reach the final table. Like people get all excited n stuff. I think the biggest tournament I ever entered though was a 2 dollar rebuy add on. Different situations= adjusting as you go for me anyways



"There's also the factor that if you tighten up before the bubble, you probably also tighten up before pay jumps. So it's not just a matter of playing sub-optimally at one point in the tournament."


- I like this

 

[Poker Orifice]

So your on the bubble of a thousand man tournament and you think all you have to do is wait 1 to 3 hands to get in the money and your in no position of blinding out (35 bb) Do you wait to get in the money or does the bubble not matter cause you want 1st place
I know theres no right answer but any thoughts would be nice.:icon_spid

Actually there is a right answer.
You want to look for spots to exploit the other players on the table & during bubble you're bound to find players who are doing part of what you've suggested as an option (wait to get in the money). You want to steal relentlessly from these types!!!

 

[houtlijm]

with a stack of 35 BB i'd still play rather agressive and put some pressure on the smallers stacks (+- 12 bb). when get reraised by a bigstack bully you go nowhere.

 

[Vhyre]

With 30+ BB I will play as I normally do. That said there are circumstances that dictate waiting out the bubble. Very often I get sat late with some monster stack who seems to be vacuuming up the smaller players. I keep my head down and as soon as the bubble bursts I look for a way to get in good.

 

[Loonbat]

And remember there is usually more than one bubble in an MTT ... the pure money pure, the FT bubble, and sometimes certain pay-bump bubbles.

 

[tbdbitl]

I wouldn't play any different than you have been leading up to the bubble. Just need to watch your spots and fold those marginal hands you may have shoved with if you were SS prior to this point.

Here's some of my thoughts during a MTT:
You can't win a tourney on just one hand--but you can lose one.
Always look Left (must know who is left to act after your action)

Goals:
1. Cash
2. Final Table
3. TID

 

[Jacki Burkhart]

as always "it depends". I'll tighten up in some situations and loosen up in others.

If I am table chip leader by a wide margin then you'll HATE being on the bubble at my table.

If I am a medium, or average stack but I have a couple nits to my left who obviously want to squeak into the money I will attack their blinds relentlessly.

On the other hand, if I have a LAG big stack to my left, I'm going to tighten waaaaay up on the bubble.


These are the questions I ask myself when determining my bubble strategy:

• Who is to my left, who is to my right, and what are their stack sizes?

• Do I have to put my tourney life on the line to attack the blinds, or can I afford to make a raise and fold later?

• How likely is it that I can coast into the money with most of my stack in tact vs. losing half my stack in blinds and antes while waiting for the bubble to burst?

• How much would it increase my stack to win the blinds 3 or 4 times between now and then.....i.e. is the risk worth the reward?

• Does a min-cash mean anything to me? Is a min cash worth it? sometimes in top heavy structures a min cash is barely your money back, sometimes like in WSOP main event as an example, a min cash is a big deal for my bankroll...

 

[PoKeRFoRNiA]

1st place FTW. I don't even think about bubble anymore. While I used to be a nit since I used to play lot of satellites on Full Tilt where top 2 or 3 players get paid the same, ICM mattered a lot. But NOT in MTT unless it's a satellite tournament where top 100 or 200 or whatever gets paid the same. I threw away ICM out the window. You play to win, not to survive. I played like a nit in satellite stt because satellite stt where 2 or 3 ppl get paid the same, or stuff like DoN, it's about survival. But not in non-satellite MTT.

In a tournament where all the prizes are at top places, you should be willing to risk your chips anytime. If it's bubble play and you have 100bb and some knucklehead with 200bb moved all-in against you while you're holding QQ/KK/AA, you call. You take advantage of aggressive players during bubble play.

Now that I started playing MTT where all the top prizes are awarded to few places, and learning this from my friend, you should always be willing to risk your chips ANYTIME. Makes more sense to maximize the value of your stack when their range is wide and you take advantage of it. Bubble play is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of. Once bubble is over, loose-aggressive players will tighten up compared to bubble play.

Here's one thread I have where I've learned a lot from my friend during that night.

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-poker-59/why-do-people-fear-bubble-play-235139/