Poker Tournament Bubble Play - Tips For The Short Stack

1 . Understanding Stack Sizes. When stuck with a brief stack in a MTT, the bubble can be a precarious spot. It can help to understand which stacks are willing to take shots at knocking you out light, and which cannot afford to play against you with no monster hand. Big stacks are the major threats to you; they can afford to gamble, and as a result of more modern advances in game theory, are expected to pound on the short stacks more liberally than normal on the bubble. The medium stacks are better to play against, but according to your relative stack size, may also decide to pick on you. Your fellow short stacks are the easiest to play against, because they really have few options to manage you when you choose to shove. Your shove itself looks strong, so to a short stack trying to eek into the bubble, the relative strength of the move itself is huge.

2. M 4-7 Play. With a stack in this range, you have a stack that may probably wait til the finish of the bubble, if you do so. You'll notice that many of the bigger stacks will purposely come after your blinds; your stack is actually more vulnerable than the super short stacks which can be, that are forced to make a move. Don't be surprised to see players jockeying to pick on your own blinds, even short stacks may choose your big blind to create a stand and shove. If you are playing for first (which you should be) look for spots where you believe a big stack gets froggy, or where a short stack is shipping it in light, and move. Getting your stack out of the M 4-7 range will allow you to really open up your game on the bubble and find many more profitable opportunities.

3. M 0-3 Play. This is the critical stage of the bubble; you don't have enough play to safely make it through the blinds and antes more than 3 rotations of the dining table. More than likely, you'll have to make a move sometime in the next 5-10 hands in order to survive. With regards to the type of poker 99 tournament and players remaining, you may simply have to fold and hang on for dear life; you may have no fold equity at a table filled with big stacks, or you may well be so short, you haven't any fold equity anyways. When presented with these type of scenarios, think about the best targets at the dining table for making your move. Don't let your self blind below M 2, if possible; fold equity will vanish once you're under 5 BB's. Keep an active eye on the bubble itself, and do everything you can to squeeze engrossed. Remember; a double up from M2 to M4 won't drastically help you in the future, but going from M2 to M0 keeps you from cashing. Not a big deal in a small tournament, but in a $10k buy-in event, could be a huge chunk of change for an amateur player.