Bubble/Late Stage Tournament Strategy

Bubble/Late Stage Tournament Strategy will change your play indefinitely either speeding up your play or slowing down your play. The first thing to look at when approaching the bubble is how many chips you have. If you have a medium sized stack it will make decisions more difficult than if your stack is short or if it is deep. The reason being that with a medium size or average size stack you can play aggressive or passive as the bubble passes by. If you feel that your table is tightening up then you should be putting them to the test, and leaving yourself with little decisions. If your table is loosening up then you can sit and wait for a hand. If you get that hand though the key is to double up your stack or knock out your opponent. Whether it is winning a race or having a big pair hold up.

The second thing to look at as the bubble comes and goes is what the payout structure is for the next few payouts as opposed to winning the tournament. If the payout structure pays out the top 18 players then you will want to pick up aggression and try to win races. The reason to go ahead and put your money in with 18 players left is because the goal is to win the tournament. If you move up to say 8th or 9th in the payouts it will not be as significant of a payout as if you won the tournament. If the payout structure is paying the top 500 players out then the tournament isn’t close to being over, and is still a grind to get down to the final table. Looking at a tournament with 500 players left and a medium stack seems insurmountable, but it can be done and has been done. The way to view a place finish in a tournament with 500 players left isn’t to look to gamble, but rather to sit back and wait for hands. If you can sit back and wait for hands rather than gamble, this is the better of the two options.

When the bubble passes and the tournament has past the minimum cash and is beginning to move up to the big money this is the time to step your game up to the next level. At this point you should be re-stealing before the flop with all-in moves, and playing aggressively. You want to put your opponents to the test rather than put yourself to a big decision for all of your chips. If you move your stack in with 55 versus AQ and lose then there is nothing you can do. As long as you were the person moving your money in and not the one making the call then you have a better chance at success. You have a better chance putting all of your poker bonus money in rather than your opponent because you are collecting fold equity with the all-in play.