Why are tournaments so lucrative for players with good knowledge? Because you'll always have two types of players with different objectives. And they'll know how to apply pressure during the tournament bubble.
In a tournament of 180 people at PokerStarsYou're actually competing against less than 100 opponents. In other words, there are no more than 100 players actually trying to win the game. The rest are just trying for a prize, i.e. to reach the prize range and make a small profit. These players are not competing with you for the final prizes.
In the early stages, they are playing to accumulate chips, just like you. The strategy they use is not necessarily -EV, although their style of play may be.
When the prize range has already been reached, many of them will be happy to have met their goal and will start taking risks, but they will be too short to cause any trouble.
On the bubble, however, they will often fold, leaving a lot of dead money on the table. You need to organize yourself to grab as much as you can while there's still time, and this will be the best opportunity you'll have to accumulate chips at this stage of the tournament. Here are ten tips on how to do that:
1: Raise.
Even if you already know this, you probably don't raise it enough. "Never" go all in. Not in UTG, not in BTN, never. The odds are too good for you to win a hand without a showdown. (Maybe never is a strong word, but it's exactly the point)
2: Fold.
Just because an A9 is a good hand in your range to re-raise a player who has opened in late position doesn't mean you should necessarily call if he goes all-in. There are plenty of players on the bubble who know you're stealing but are too afraid to attack you back, and there are also those who know the strategy of the game and are waiting for good hands to hit back and punish your raise. However, if this starts to happen too often, you can widen your calling range a little. It's worth remembering that usually the first time you're counter-raised means that your opponent really has a hand and it's better to fold. You can get your lost chips back in just one orbit, but one or two wrong calls can reduce your stack and end your ability to make steals. There is so much easy money available on the bubble without the need for a showdown that you don't need to despair, just wait for the best opportunities.
3: Target the weak.
The decision to raise is determined by three factors, in order of importance: who the blind is, their position and their cards. You should start identifying who is playing just to get ITM before the bubble even starts, and keep paying attention to who isn't defending the blinds and who seems to be making big laydowns. With this information your shots will be accurate.
4: Balance the competition.
Players who just want cash are not the real competition. At that point, they're just giving away free money and all you have to do is take it. However, you still have to play real poker with the other players who play to win, who are also after the dead money just like you. These players are just as likely to make steals and re-steals as you are. And you need to adapt correctly so that you don't hurt yourself playing against them.
5: Look at the chat.
The dialog at the tables gives you plenty of clues as to who is playing to get ITM. We see players saying "I would have called if we weren't on the bubble", "I'm folding JJ here" and "Yes, Yes, Yes!" every time they win a pot. These will be easy targets who are afraid of falling into the bubble.
Some players will also comment on how often you raise and will threaten to call "next time". Pay attention to these and it will help you decide how to act when they counter-attack you.
6: Divide your attacks.
Many players will take it personally when you try to steal their blinds. If you abuse the same player too often, he may end up standing up to you and disrupting your plans. Sometimes players will recognize that you're stealing too much, but they won't care as long as you're not bothering them or feeling abused. If you've raised player X in the last two orbits, try to vary it up and steal from player Y next time.
7: Protect your blinds.
If you call or re-raise your blinds sometimes, many aggressive players will feel discouraged from trying to steal from you, as there is easier money available. Players who just want the ITM will make some weak attempts at stealing such as mini-raises or open limping from late positions. They usually give up if they encounter any kind of reaction for fear of becoming the tournament bubble. Take advantage of this!
8: Protect your opponents' blinds.
A good aggressive player on your right may try to scupper your plans by understanding your strategy and will start trying to steal the blinds before you do. Don't see this as a bad thing, see it as an opportunity: he's putting money into a pot he can't defend. His only options are to continue raising and donating money to you, or to fold and let you get on with your game, it's a win-win situation for you. If the weak players won't defend your blinds, you'll defend them for them. Defend your steal opportunity!
9: Place the last bet.
Just because a player has decided to pay you to see a flop doesn't mean he has a big hand. With so many people stealing blinds, many players will end up entering the game with weak hands sooner or later. They usually want a cheap showdown to annoy you or push you out of the pot. If you play your draws aggressively, you'll notice that they'll start to get into fewer hands against you. You just need to structure yourself in such a way that your bet is the last one, making the decision more difficult for your opponent.
It's much harder to go all-in with a marginal hand than it is to go all-in with the same one, so be the final aggressor.
10: Reach the bubble with a big stack.
Although the bubble is a lucrative time to steal the blinds, a 3x BB raise from the table's chip leader has much more fold equity than an 8x BB raise from a short stack going all-in. Ninety percent of the time we'll prefer to accumulate chips rather than survive, but in most tournaments it may be right to alter your strategy before the bubble in order to arrive on the bubble with a decent stack and be able to apply some steals. This means taking a little more risk when you're short, trying to double up and build a healthy stack, or folding a few hands to keep your stack healthy.
Article translated and adapted from: Ten Tips for Improving Your Bubble Play by: Andrew Brokos
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