Bubble tournament issues

[d33nyc]

Hi, I have this big problem when I'm almost about to make the money bubble my game gets off. I tend to play aggressively, call more all ins and sometimes full on go on tilt.
Does any one have some advanced poker playing techniques for late bubble tournaments.
I also play Sit and gos usually 6 or 8 players but I encounter the same issue and am stuck! Please help!

 

[wrzlbrnft]

Hi, I have this big problem when I'm almost about to make the money bubble my game gets off. I tend to play aggressively, call more all ins and sometimes full on go on tilt.
Does any one have some advanced poker playing techniques for late bubble tournaments.
I also play Sit and gos usually 6 or 8 players but I encounter the same issue and am stuck! Please help!

I prefer to play tight at the bubble, but also depending of the stack. If I have a low stack, I play very tight avoiding risks to get busted. Play only in good position with no raises in front of you. With a big stack at the bubble you can attack the blinds of low stack villains without risking ITM.

Try to concentrate, be patient and avoid tilt. GL

 

[Alizona]

Since many player tend to tighten up when nearing the money, being more aggressive than them is a +EV strategy... but of course you are increasing your own variance and taking more risk... but by taking on additional "risk of ruin", we are actually increasing our chances of making a deep run and a large cash... so we should have a mindset where it is acceptable to be aggressive at this critical point of any tournament. Sounds to me like you're doing it right, not doing it wrong... its YOUR poker career so only you can decide how much risk of ruin you are willing to accept, but don't let short term negative results influence your choice, make sure you understand the overall concept. Best wishes.

 

[d33nyc]

I prefer to play tight at the bubble, but also depending of the stack. If I have a low stack, I play very tight avoiding risks to get busted. Play only in good position with no raises in front of you. With a big stack at the bubble you can attack the blinds of low stack villains without risking ITM.

Try to concentrate, be patient and avoid tilt. GL

Thanks for the advice, I'll tighten up. What about players acting before you bullying you out of the blinds, what defensive strategy can you use?

 

[BIGAUS]

Sounds like being more selective might be valuable for your late bubble game. Of course it also depends on stack size and other factors. Also how you play the bubble in a tournament depends on what your end goal is. Finishing 1st is always the desired goal, but are you someone that definitely wants to cash or playing to make the final table? That also impacts the level of aggressiveness I may take when I play.

 

[fundiver199]

Its not a good strategy to call wider near the bubble, unless you sense, that someone with a big stack is completely out of line and trying to "bully" the table. But apart from that special situation people will be getting it in stronger near the bubble, especially if they are risking their tournament life, and if you are also risking the bulk of your stack, then you should be less willing to call and certainly not more.

It can make sense to jam a bit wider though, especially against players, who you think are willing to fold. This is the core principle of ICM really and also apply to SnGs and on the final table of an MTT. Whenever chips won are significantly less valuable than chips lost, we can jam wide but not call. As Collin Moshman explain in this video:

 

[phoenixKK]

Hi, I have this big problem when I'm almost about to make the money bubble my game gets off. I tend to play aggressively, call more all ins and sometimes full on go on tilt.
Does any one have some advanced poker playing techniques for late bubble tournaments.
I also play Sit and gos usually 6 or 8 players but I encounter the same issue and am stuck! Please help!

It seems for me that you have something blocking your mind.You have to think positive my friend and if you think you will lose with aces or kings ,I advise you simply fold your hand and wait for the buble.

 

[LFC_yllnwa]

Playing on a bubble in a big tournament is a special part of the game, when your actions should be very simple. If you have enough chips, sit and wait for the bubble to burst and you should not take risks or show aggression, there are other stages of the tournament for these elements of the game.

Sit&go (especially the short format) has a slightly different format, so there is no bubble there, a very short pot, a short table and big blinds do not allow you to sit and wait. You should not pay attention to the positions in front of ITM, you have to play and does not matter, when you are eliminated from the tournament. If you are eliminated in front of the top-3 and do not receive money, it means that you are playing very tight and can not put pressure on the table, when there are chances for this. Study your game carefully and find mistakes when you can't prepare a good pot to fight for money. The place and position, when you fly out in a short sit&go is absolutely not important and you should not talk about a bubble...

 

[d33nyc]

Thanks, I'll put it into practice with my new game

 

[fundiver199]

Sit&go (especially the short format) has a slightly different format, so there is no bubble there, a very short pot, a short table and big blinds do not allow you to sit and wait.

Except for "winner takes all" SnGs like heads-up and most spins, there is a bubble in SnGs, and its more important than in most MTTs. A simple way to look at it is, how much of the price pool is distributed, when the bubble burst. In most MTTs its around 30%. This basically mean, that after the bursting of the bubble each chip only has 70% of the value, it had at the beginning of the tournament, because there is only those 70% left to fight for.

In a traditional 9-man however the payouts are 50/30/20, and this mean, that 60% of the price pool is distributed, when the bubble burst, and after that each chip is only worth 40% of, what it was at the beginning of the tournament. So accumulating a large stack and "going for the win" has much less value in a 9-man SnG, than it does in an MTT, and on the other side surviving the bubble is similarly more important.

Another more intuitive way of looking at it is, that in the 9-man SnG winning the tournament only pays 2,5 times as much as min-cashing, and therefore a lot of your ROI is going to be determined by, how often you cash. In an MTT on the other hand, the winner might take home 20 or even 100 times as much as the min-cash, and therefore more of your ROI is going be determined by, how often you win or at least reach the top places.

 

[Bnobob]

The Big Gamee

play the rounds you wouldn't play; in a complicated situation:angel:

 

[PatriceM915]

.Good morning my friend I also have this problem sometimes, but sometimes I realized that when I'm calmer I tend to earn some $$$, but when I'm agitated I have the same problems in the bubble and of course I find it difficult on the bubble if you get a pair of KK and get an all-in from some player and don't go all-in on the bubble, but I once won a tournament by giving up a pair of QQ and even AK, so I think we need to breathe better

 

[Ellvira]

bubble is a crucial moment, many double up as many start playing clamped and someone flies out one place before the prizes, bubble for many is like a stumbling block, the book Harington Hold'em 1 at the very beginning describes in great detail such a moment

Spoiler

part of the text

 

[mariale_1990]

My strategy is to wait, to be very calm, although sometimes I do not apply what I preach and take risks, sometimes it works and sometimes it does not, but many times I prefer to wait and play as safely as possible.

 

[ga25x]

Just try not to lose your cool.

 

[MishkaZL]

Only your patience will help you solve this problem. If you do not have enough patience and you are trying to play with junk, then you should not expect another result.

 

[Zirkzee]

You should make the stack size dependent on how loose you call an all in or push yourself. In general, if your opponent has a stack of the same size as you, he will only be able to call a push from your side tightly, as he does not want to lose against you at all. Especially not in the bubble. The same applies to you if an opponent with a stack higher than or equal to yours pushes all in. In general, as a medium stack you should avoid any confrontation with big stacks unless you have real monster hands. As a medium stack, you hope that the smaller stacks will be eliminated and that you will make it into the prize money. As a medium stack, however, you can push a reasonable number of hands in front of big stacks, as they cannot call you too lightly. He doesn't want to risk half his stack against you either. As a big stack you can put pressure on medium stacks because they can only call with the best hands. As a short stack you should push tight because medium and big stacks can call you light. But as a relatively light short stack you can call a push from medium and big stacks because they will push against you very loosely.

 

[LetterRip]

Hi, I have this big problem when I'm almost about to make the money bubble my game gets off. I tend to play aggressively, call more all ins and sometimes full on go on tilt.

Calling on the bubble is horrendous unless your stack dominates theirs. If stacks are close in size or they have a larger stack - you have to fold even if you know their range is wide. Usually you can only call JJ+, AK, anything wider is often an ICM disaster (Bad ICM calls hurt both the caller and the person shoving - transfering equity to all of the other players).

Conversely you can jam extremely wide into anyone but a big stack that can swat you, or someone who has wide static calling ranges (Ie they are completely stack and bubble unaware and always call a range like Ax any 2 BW, any PP).

Calling too wide is actually one of the most common leaks, so you are aren't alone.

 

[LFC_yllnwa]

Except for "winner takes all" SnGs like heads-up and most spins, there is a bubble in SnGs, and its more important than in most MTTs. A simple way to look at it is, how much of the price pool is distributed, when the bubble burst. In most MTTs its around 30%. This basically mean, that after the bursting of the bubble each chip only has 70% of the value, it had at the beginning of the tournament, because there is only those 70% left to fight for.

In a traditional 9-man however the payouts are 50/30/20, and this mean, that 60% of the price pool is distributed, when the bubble burst, and after that each chip is only worth 40% of, what it was at the beginning of the tournament. So accumulating a large stack and "going for the win" has much less value in a 9-man SnG, than it does in an MTT, and on the other side surviving the bubble is similarly more important.

Another more intuitive way of looking at it is, that in the 9-man SnG winning the tournament only pays 2,5 times as much as min-cashing, and therefore a lot of your ROI is going to be determined by, how often you cash. In an MTT on the other hand, the winner might take home 20 or even 100 times as much as the min-cash, and therefore more of your ROI is going be determined by, how often you win or at least reach the top places.

Absolutely no matter, how much and what percentage remains, you are talking about something completely different... Have you carefully read, what I wrote to the author of the topic??

I am not interested in statistics, player performance at a distance and other data and analysis. I'm talking about a specific type of tournament and how important or not a certain stage in the tournament is. I wrote in detail, why there is no bubble in sit&go. Formally, it exists, because when there are top-3 prizes, the bubble is always the 4th place in a tournament with 9 or more players.

In a large MTT, when I have a low but comfortable bank out of 10 attempts, I will get into the money in 10 attempts. In sit&go, you need push game to survive or get into the money, because you can't sit and wait, there is one table in the game and you will be destroyed without any problems, even if you have a short but comfortable pot and get into the top-3 out of 9 players (in the tournament) without luck in the game preflop all-in is very very difficult... Out of 10 attempts, if in half you can be in the top-3 (in money) this is an amazing result, but as practice shows, this is not at all accurate!