in the money with few chips.

[Leandro6803]

this is a common situation in tournaments when it's getting close to making the money some players start to play tighter and get short, and when it comes to the money they have few chips to have some playability and tend to make riskier plays to try to double up and stay alive in the tournament.

what do you do in this situation?

 

[Kenzie 96]

Generally speaking, watch how the rest of the table is playing & look for opportunities to play the opposite, ie, if the table is really tight widen your shove range & if big stacks are playing a lot of hands, tighten up, don't shove atc into them. Sometimes you make a good play & run into a better hand or a suckout, but try to get involved in hands while you still have enough chips to have some fold equity.

 

[Andyreas]

A lot of players have the mind set to save ITM first before trying to chip up.

If you play within your bankroll, there's no reason to do that:
By blinding out, you'll lose a lot of probability to stack up and run deep and get to FT where the big money is hiding. Even if that means you risk busting in the bubble.

Compare this case with 10 MTTs where you are close to or on the bubble:

• Securing ITM first: Min-cashing 10 times with an ROI of 0.5-0.7x buy-in: up to 5-7 buyins as win.
• Taking more risks to run deep: Assuming you try to take 60/40 spots to push your hands: 4x you bust, 6x times you make it ITM. Let's assume you'll run deep in one of those cases: 4x0 buy-in, 5x 0.5-0.7 buyin, 1x 10 buyin (or even more). Result: 12.5-15 buyins.

Which one would you choose? 🤓

Note: The calculation is very simplified but hopefully not too far away from the truth.

 

[fundiver199]

I assume, you are talking about the period sometimes referred to as the "post bubble bustout bonanza". During this phase of the tournament players with a short stack widen there stack-off range significantly. And this makes sense, since they are now playing fairly close to chip EV, meaning that each chip, they potentially win, is just as valuable as chips, that they lose. There is no incentive for them to sit and knit a sweater just to try to make it to the next typically very insignificant payjump.

If we are one of those short stacks ourselfes, we should do exactly the same as everyone else, and widen our stack-off range. Its time to "go strong or go home", since lasting a few more orbits with almost no chips has very little value. If we are a mid or large stack, we should be aware of this dynamic. Which mean, we should be willing to call short stacks wider, than we did on the bubble, because their range is now wider. We should also expect less fold equity when jamming or 3-betting, so in that situation we want to use a tighter range focused on hands, that dominate some of the calling ranges. Now is not the time to be a "chip bully", because nobody are afraid of busting, and certainly not the people with a short stack.

 

[a1232]

A lot of players have the mind set to save ITM first before trying to chip up.

If you play within your bankroll, there's no reason to do that:
By blinding out, you'll lose a lot of probability to stack up and run deep and get to FT where the big money is hiding. Even if that means you risk busting in the bubble.

Compare this case with 10 MTTs where you are close to or on the bubble:

• Securing ITM first: Min-cashing 10 times with an ROI of 0.5-0.7x buy-in: up to 5-7 buyins as win.
• Taking more risks to run deep: Assuming you try to take 60/40 spots to push your hands: 4x you bust, 6x times you make it ITM. Let's assume you'll run deep in one of those cases: 4x0 buy-in, 5x 0.5-0.7 buyin, 1x 10 buyin (or even more). Result: 12.5-15 buyins.

Which one would you choose? 🤓

Note: The calculation is very simplified but hopefully not too far away from the truth.

Exactly this, no need to play for the min prize and actually you can often take advantage of this if there are a lot at the table who do it

 

[rastapapolos]

I'm trying to attack the smaller stacks before the bubble burst, applying maximum pressure on them especially if they try to min-cash. And once ITM switch to a more conservative approach.

 

[kon44]

Nothing to add but say @Andyreas and @fundiver199 have pretty much said it all. Though in satellites faced with the same predicament, always be aware of where you sit relative to the other short stacks... getting deep isn’t a factor, surviving for the ticket weather that be waiting it out or making moves on the right players ant the best times.... I’ve actually started getting up and waking away lol if I’m comfortable as it nears

 

[DegenerateSheep]

There is also a similar dynamic in the 45-man SNG's on PS, where the first payout is 7th place. You get incredibly tight play from the short stacks, but there very little bustout bonanza happens after the bubble bursts. You get this dreadful dynamic of people blinding down to 2-3 BB folding everything 95% of hands, but they continue doing it even when ITM. This always feels horrible when I'm 3-4th in chips and there are 2 such players left.

Does anybody have experience with these spots?

 

[lyki67]

What can you do if you have 1 or 2 BB? I search for my chance to double up and continue to play. If I fail it's O.K.. I'm in money already.

 

[Sopt]

Before the bubble and on the final table are the times that's most important to pay attention to how the table is playing. A lot of course depends on what stack you yourself bring into such situation. While I agree with what @Andyreas wrote; The mindset of going big or going home is actually the right way and you should always play that way, not playing scared. I would still recon it's OK to survive till you're itm, burning out your time and really only playing top hands if you are a short stack. Yes that would a lot of times mean you only get back what you payed in the tournament fee, but if nothing else it's a bit of a confidence boost. After bubble you must open up the range and hope to get lucky.
If you do see however that most of the table is playing really tight to get itm; same way you're trying, you can abuse that a bit. Unless you have some big stack calling pretty much everything, you have all the options in the world to steal a few blinds, giving you more chips to play with after the bubble.
If you are not a short stacks you should always play aggressive around bubble. It's where you generally build even bigger stack as people are scared of being the bubble boy. You might run into an insane hand now and then, but more time than not people will fold way better hand than you have.

 

[dregan]

In practice, this is how I act in this situation that you described here. Sometimes I won't even call a big raise from a big stack with a high pocket pair or AK. But this is if there are 1 or 2 players left before the bubble. In other cases, even with a middle card, you need to go all-in until you are eaten by the blinds.

 

[Gallarado777]

I try not to get into this situation and try to increase my chips right away in advance because when you get close to the dough it will be hard for you to play and you will throw away a lot of hands so it's better to try to collect chips with good hands before that

 

[TeUnit]

This is kind of like the ole saying "The deeper the water, the easier it is to swim". You do not really have anything to lose, but that doesnt mean you should not pay attention to the icm. If you are the lowest stack and the first to hit the blinds its different than having 3 equally short stacks ahead of you. The steepness of the payouts is another thing to consider.

 

[jonaselloco]

In general, this situation is not something that happens to me very often in MTTs.
I usually try to get into ITM comfortable and open up my game well before the bubble.
I think it doesn't make sense to make a fearful game to be able to enter adjusted to the ITM.
Be careful, I'm not crazy or delusional playing either. Let's say I try to make the most of moments.
Something that works for me is entering the game with medium hands with good combinations in cheap calls or limps. There either I call only or many times depending on how the table is, I raise 3, 4 or 5 bets to win blinds.
In general, if you have a table that is 80% very passive, at the time of the bubble, almost everyone usually folds.
In other words, the intention is to try to reach the bubble without suffering.
And when I'm on the bubble and I have to play a good hand, I play it. Because it is true that you can always stay out of the MTT, but in general I think more that this hand can mean something much better to me in the MTT. When I talk about these hands I'm talking about monster hands from now on.
Good post brother.
A hug

 

[martinoni]

I only go agressive shoving against the other... rarely I call the agressors when I'm in this situation.

 

[Chebchoub]

this is a common situation in tournaments when it's getting close to making the money some players start to play tighter and get short, and when it comes to the money they have few chips to have some playability and tend to make riskier plays to try to double up and stay alive in the tournament.

what do you do in this situation?

I think the best in this case is to wait until entering in the winning seats, so that there is no regret, especially if the buy-in is high, the chips play an important role in defending your hand.
I remember being eliminated several times with an ace & king pair served before the bubble.
However, in some cases, the call is the only reason for sitting at the final table, especially if is based on a correct decision, your position at the table and your good reading of the opponents, and a bit of luck.
Good luck

 

[Igor Popadyk]

before the prizes, if the stack allows you to try to put pressure on tighter players, but not with the whole range, but simply expand it, it will definitely be more positive

 

[knutwuchtig]

i had often AA 1 or 2 places before getting in price money, i all in, and in about 75% i lost, thats life but whatever.

 

[Risto234]

this is a common situation in tournaments when it's getting close to making the money some players start to play tighter and get short, and when it comes to the money they have few chips to have some playability and tend to make riskier plays to try to double up and stay alive in the tournament.

what do you do in this situation?

Sometimes i while expecting other people to KO themselves out ...

 

[PINOY]

A lot of players have the mind set to save ITM first before trying to chip up.

If you play within your bankroll, there's no reason to do that:
By blinding out, you'll lose a lot of probability to stack up and run deep and get to FT where the big money is hiding. Even if that means you risk busting in the bubble.

Compare this case with 10 MTTs where you are close to or on the bubble:

• Securing ITM first: Min-cashing 10 times with an ROI of 0.5-0.7x buy-in: up to 5-7 buyins as win.
• Taking more risks to run deep: Assuming you try to take 60/40 spots to push your hands: 4x you bust, 6x times you make it ITM. Let's assume you'll run deep in one of those cases: 4x0 buy-in, 5x 0.5-0.7 buyin, 1x 10 buyin (or even more). Result: 12.5-15 buyins.

Which one would you choose? 🤓

Note: The calculation is very simplified but hopefully not too far away from the truth.

Spot on solution. Around 20-25 BB you look for double up and abuse the tight player, 2 way to win the pot. fold equity or win the flip.

 

[Pavel1203733]

this is a common situation in tournaments when it's getting close to making the money some players start to play tighter and get short, and when it comes to the money they have few chips to have some playability and tend to make riskier plays to try to double up and stay alive in the tournament.

what do you do in this situation?

Hello.
Just "push or fold". I think there is no other strategies in such situation.

 

[dreamer13]

When there are only two tables left, most players start to act stiffly, showing tight poker.Take advantage of this weakness of your opponents to build up your stack and get to the coveted final. The sooner you start caring about increasing your chip count, the easier it will be for you to put pressure on your opponents later on at the final table.So, for example, if there are several hyper-aggressive opponents at the table, you should be careful and just let them fly out of the tournament before you.Choose the right situation, choose your opponent and take risks: this is the only way to increase the stack and hope to continue the fight for victory. It is best to counter opponents with medium stacks: they have something to lose.

 

[Gritz18]

this is a common situation in tournaments when it's getting close to making the money some players start to play tighter and get short, and when it comes to the money they have few chips to have some playability and tend to make riskier plays to try to double up and stay alive in the tournament.

what do you do in this situation?

I would say this is the most tense part of the tournament, you spend a few hours playing a tournament and finally you get close to the money, and with your 9bb you start to strategize in your head.

- Well I've come this far, so it's not time to fall, even if it's a few cents, I have to make the time I lost in this turbulent and crazy freeroll count.

Then the long awaited moment arrives, there's only one player left to make the money, the guy has only 3.5bb and I'm next with 5.7bb, your heart starts racing and you keep an eye on the other table waiting for the player get involved in a hand.

Then the big moment finally arrives as villain with 3.5bb ends up calling the table chip leader's all-in, and you're wide-eyed waiting for the guy to go down and finally get in the money.

But what you didn't expect is that the villain who had 3.5bb doubles his chips with a nice pair of AA, (What a boring guy), and now you are the ball of the hour.

Could I get to itm, don't miss the next chapters.🤪😁🤣🤣

 

[bowserdon]

All in 1st good hand,its possible to make big comeback

 

[mssmotilda]

There were champions of major tournaments, who won tournaments after they had 1 ante left in the course of the tournament.