MTT Post Bubble Play Strategy

Replay Poker Poker Strategy
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In a previous post I talked about MTT Bubble Play strategy. Today I’m going to talk about post bubble strategy. There are a few different ways you can play right after the money bubble bursts. You can play aggressive, passive and a little bit of both.

When the money bubble bursts I like to check the tournament lobby to see how many eliminations have to happen before the next payout jump. I take this into much more of a consideration when I got through the money bubble but I’m low on chips and have about 10 big blinds or less.

When I’m short on chips and have less then 10 Big Blinds, I’m looking for a spot where I can get all my chips in while having a decent chance of winning the hand if it goes to showdown or If I’m lucky my all in will get through preflop and I can collect the blinds and antes and wait for the next opportunity to get my chips in again. A lot of this time it can get a little boring waiting for the opportunity to make your move and sometimes you don’t have much of an option to get it all in if you get down to 5 Big Blinds or lower. I’d rather go out of a tournament trying to make something happen rather then being blind out of a tournament.

If you have a good healthy chip stack you can be more aggressive at the table. You can raise preflop and put lower chip stacks in situations where they can’t check. They either have to call, fold or go all in. I consider 25 Big Blinds or more to be pretty healthy however you can’t get to complacent because things change rapidly in online Poker so you should always be trying to add to your chip stack whenever possible.

You also have to be careful when it comes to playing aggressive. Immediately after the bauble bursts there are players who are low in chips and will be going all in to try and help heal their stacks. You should be careful when calling because if you make to many calls and lose those showdowns you’ll quickly loose momentum as well as your chip stack. You should be calling these all in’s with good hands and not just random hands like 5,7 off just because you have a healthy chip stack.

Eventually the post bubble craziness will slow down and chip stacks will start to even out a bit and there will be less all in’s then when the bubble first bursts.

I hope these tips post bubble tips help!

-Marc

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This is all very good and very helpful advice, Marc. Thanks! You also provide advice so clearly that even beginners can apply the new information. Well done.

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It really is amazing sometimes how quickly players are eliminated after the bubble in larger tournaments. I tend to watch the lobby, so I see how quickly the game changes post-bubble. This is usually when, even short stacked, I try to fold a lot, because I am usually playing for points as well as chips. Once play calms down I try to heal my stack and often manage to make it much further than I would have otherwise. In smaller tournaments where you are at the final table before the bubble pops, play often doesn’t change much after the bubble.

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Excellent stuff. (Just to say, I personally go very tight immediately after the bubble because there are often one or two less-experienced players who have made it this far. They are often tired and relieved to have finally made the money so they tend to play more carefree - they’ve achieved what they wanted. Stronger players (or you) will take them down and so you shift up the payout table. From there, I’d go exponentially aggressive, the players who are left are not going to let you sit around waiting for your moment.)

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