Poker Tournament Bubble Play - Tips For The Short Stack

1 . Understanding Stack Sizes. When stuck with a quick stack in a MTT, the bubble can be a precarious spot. It can help to understand which stacks are able to take shots at knocking you out light, and which can't afford to play against you with out a monster hand. Big stacks are the major threats to you; they can afford to gamble, and thanks to more modern advances in game theory, are anticipated to pound on the short stacks more liberally than normal on the bubble. The medium stacks are simpler to play against, but according to your relative stack size, may also choose to pick you. Your fellow short stacks are the easiest to play against, as they really have few options to cope with you when you choose to shove. Your shove itself looks strong, so to a quick 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 can probably hold on til the finish of the bubble, if you opt to do so. You'll notice that lots 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 amazed to see players jockeying to pick on your own blinds, even short stacks may choose your big blind to produce a stand and shove. If you're playing for first (which you should be) look for spots where you imagine a big stack gets froggy, or where a short stack is shipping it in light, and make a 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 will need to make a move some time in the next 5-10 hands to be able to survive. With respect to the type of situs poker - qqidnpoker.id writes, tournament and players remaining, you may can just fold and hang on for dear life; you may have no fold equity at a table filled up with big stacks, or you may be so short, you don't have 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 tends to 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 long run, 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, can be a huge chunk of change for an amateur player.