At the bubble: Take a risk with a good hand or not?

Gallarado777

Gallarado777

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it all depends on the prize money, if it's a couple of bucks, then of course I'll play and try to get to the ITM better either to the final table than to the dough, and if I can lose a lot of money, but I always try to play directly to the final table there the prizes are much higher so we try to always play for 1st place
 
elchonga

elchonga

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If it's a good hand I prefer the risk
That may be the moment in which you can have chances to reach a final table.
 
B

blata8ruga

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I will play a hand but fold with any big raises unless I have aces. I generally play it pretty safe.
 
RagNar87

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Depends on the prize , if youre talking about 1$ in freeroll definetly play ure card , if it's a lot more money and u spend a lot of time playing , it will be a shame not to cash in no?
 
dzsire

dzsire

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Every time, although even an AA at this point can be fatal, as players with a lot of chips will often move in to end the bubble phase, as they will surely stay in the game if you call all-in. In this case, the good hand is useless, if a 456 flop comes, he plays with 78, your AA is worth nothing. I prefer fold in this phase till bubble ends.
 
markdias

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if it's a top pair, or a very strong hand, I'll risk it
 
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Recreationalplayer

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I am more conservative than optimal in such instances.
 
ponistra7

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I don't risk anymore, because I lost several times with very strong hands. Now I'm fold cards and try to get into the money.
 
mattiebumpo

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Near the bubble, I will play tighter and pay even more attention to position and the action in front of you.
 
pancho_1954

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For me it depends on: how many chips I have and the rest of the players at the table, how the other people are playing, let's put it like this:

If a player has more chips than me, he enters strong in each play and let's say that he is very lucky, it is most likely that I will resist the bubble.

If I am the one who has the most chips on the table and I have very good cards and there are people who are at risk of being a bubble, I will most likely play them hard.

If I have few chips, I prefer to resist until I pass the bubble, but it will also depend on how important I consider the tournament.

but it can vary and it also depends on how important you consider the tournament and the prize
 
GERSteven

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It always depends on the situation, as has already been mentioned in a few posts before me, price, profit, time, etc...
 
JetmirDulja

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Well depending on how good the hand is , but the more you risk when you have a good hand the more you win .. remember it’s the bubble for all not just you …
 
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mrflip09

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depends on alot.....how is the table playing? aggressive...passive.......but u should be doing alot of 2.5 or 3x raising near the bubble to collect sb, bb and ante.......most players tighten up in those moments and will fold fold fold......u can build a nice stack but doing this
 
Roobz75

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It depends how good the hand is. Sometimes it's just better (although hard) to just guarantee your place on final table, by folding...
 
K

Kurchina

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Depends. If I'm playing a satellite, why risk it? Or if it's a tournament outside of my bankroll to which I qualified via a satellite... I'd rather get in the money than aim for the top. But if it's a micro SNG, I'm aiming for the top, and not folding in most cases.
 
tihomir_kula

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I often fold good hands, but it's one of my greatest mistakes.
 
mariale_1990

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I only take risks if I have enough chips and it depends on who I have to face, if it's a player with more chips than me I try to be more careful, it depends on how the game develops and other factors, many times I have had to fold just to ensure getting to itm
 
R

raskopain

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Many of the above posts are well thought and rational. And I completely understand the rationale.

For me, if I have KK or AA or in a good position, against an aggresive player with something slightly less QQ JJ or 10 10, I will go for it bubble or not. The goal is to win the tournament. Win it. Peace.
 
O

optikdave

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Just today I'm playing where top 10 win an Equal share. I'm dealt JJ and chip leader pot raise and I call. Flop is J rag rag of spades and he raises me all in. Of course I lost with the spade on the river. There were22 left at that time. Bad luck or bad play?
 
O

OstroLB

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When I'm in the bubble stage, I don't think twice, I bet heavily to take the opponent out of the game and thus win the game.
 
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ph_il

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assuming it's an actual good hand and not a marginal hand that looks pretty, I'm not afraid to bust on the bubble because min-cashes don't matter.

9/10 times I'm on the bubble, I fold into the money because I don't have anything to play. it just happens naturally. so, why would I be afraid of busting and not cashing the 1/10 times I pick up a big hand on the bubble? it's the time to go for the double up and try and make a deep run.

will I bubble sometimes? yes, but that's just part of the game and I have to expect negative variance. in fact, because I play microstakes mtts, I probably bust in these spots at a higher frequency because I get called more with wider ranges.

but the times I risk it and don't make it are balanced out by the times that I a) make the money and b) when my big hands hit and I make deep runs. it's also balanced by good bankroll management, so I'm able to take negative variance and not worry about it.

when I play, the money bubble doesn't exist for me. I know it's there but I don't think about and i dont let it influence my decisions. like I said, most of the time, if I make money, it happens naturally. the only bubble I pay attention to is the final bubble. I look at the ft bubble as the real money bubble because that's where the money is to be made, especially in the top 3.
 
markdias

markdias

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I only risk AA, AK, KK, QQ, but if someone with a bigger stack raises or goes all in I won't, I think I only call with AA
 
Matt_Burns88

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Absolutely approaching the bubble should cause you to tighten up your range, particularly if you're a medium to short stack. Getting involved in a hand with something like KJo in early position is a disaster from an ICM perspective.

However, if you're a big stack, you can utilise the fact that the short stacks should be playing a lot tighter to widen up your range and put those short stacks under extra pressure.
 
D

dompoker

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I think we should wait to get into prizes, maybe with AA and KK it could be played.
 
nameless

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Depend a lot of factors like the pricepool the hand ur having never folding aces preflop in bubble but i saw some people do i dont even fold kings maybe queens and jacks and ak and sometimes is a good spot to risk and to double up into an agressive player with stack
 
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