Bubble and pre-bubble play in SnGs

[Crunch]

A question for you:

Do anyone have any suggestions as for bubble play, and pre-bubble play (5 left in a SnG when 3rd pays) for me? I've been working on my early tourney play with staying tight and have been trying to do a Rippy style SnG with looking to double-up early. Make the following assumptions:

I've doubled or near doubled up (2000-3000 chips) somewheres early and am 2nd-4th in chip stacks. This happens fairly frequently. Blinds are in the 50-100 to 100-200 range. When the game gets down to 5 handed, I get a bit impatient and want to take a run at 1st place, knowing i'm usually 2 to 1 stack size against the chip leader. I'm interested in hand selection, bluff/blind steal frequency, agression levels, etc. I find myself either blasting out in 5th, or getting enough on 3x pre-flop + pot-sized raises to secure 3rd, but the 5ths and 6ths are about even with the ITM at the moment. My early tourney seems good, and my heads up is getting some work, but I'm worried about my play in the middle as the blind creep and my stack dwindles.

[DBL0SVN]

Some random thoughts:

Patience! You have between 10-30 BB. You can pick the right moment to steal and wait for the right time to push. Position, stack sizes and reads count for more than actual cards at this stage since few hands will go to showdown. Check out the hand histories of some of the good players at FTR (Soupie, Rada, Rippy, Iikeaces etc) to see examples of great bubble play. The other advantage of patience is that 4th or 5th stack will end up panicking and bust out fairly soon. You well get ITM without doing anything.

Aggression. A lot of blind stealing is required at this stage and works well since most people don't want to go out on the bubble and so will fold to aggression. Just know when to back off if you get significant resistance.

[Fortune 500]

I personally employ the opposite tactic of most on the bubble, and I actually loosen up. Don't go apeshit or anything, but raise with hands you normally call. People aren't going to get mized up with you unless they have a hand, so never pot commit yourself. Play your position. I raise about every button on the bubble except when a severe short stack is sitting in my blinds.

People don't want to get bubbled, so as you know, they're more reluctant to mix it up. Play the opposite of your opponents, adn that's where you make the money. These blinds you steal now can make all the difference when you do get ITM.

Another thing is that I don't look at ITM as the goal. I look for the win. In my head, 2nd and 3rd place aren't much different than 8th, except that I make a little. It's my competive nature, I guess, but I play to win.

Just my (very generic) advice.

[megadeath]

after playing countless bubbles i honestly think im becoming very very good at them. My strategy is to pick on people in correlation to the blinds, if i see the Big Stack is trying to camp and just get ITM i'll occasionaly take his blind, if the blinds are 50/100 and the small stack has 800.. I'm definately not stealing from at all. I try to pick on people my stack size or around it, and it definately works out. I quickly find i go from middle stack to large stack and even dominating stack quickly. And once im at a dominating stack advantage, my NEW goal is to keep the small stack alive at all costs. I then resort to just relentless pounding of the average stacks who are just trying to hang on, if any of them raise my blind and such i will re-raise with any 2 cards. It's kind of hard to explain, but my strategy seems to work very well, as long as i have about x15 Big Blinds going into bubble i can easily work up to a dominating position. With keeping the small stack alive i find i can get up to holding around 75% of all the chips with 4 people left, at that time i just pick off whoever when i have a true hand and just roll over the last 2 guys. When i build it up, my new goal isnt to get ITM, its to keep other people from getting ITM, i stretch it out as long as i need and make people sweat to try to get in.

if you want some hand histories of my last SNG i'll glady show you what im talking baout if your interested.. It's kind of hard to explain but whatever

[Joke]

post historys of your babysitting man! would be very nice...

[megadeath]

Ok, this is basically how i went from middle stack to large stack, while not ever risking my total life on a huge bluff, one key hand made this happen, i'll show u guys the history of how this works.

I'll start completely where i switch gears from camping to aggro, i had litterly been folding everything up to this point and completely switched gears, before other people could adjust i had built myself a stack. Here's the history from Pre-bubble to bubble to the finals.

*********** # 52 **************
PokerStars Game #1696473076: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/05/14 - 14:07:57 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1235 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2615 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1620 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (2371 in chips)
Seat 8: LIONELCO (1680 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3979 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 50
LIONELCO: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Kc Ah]
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: raises 150 to 250
LIONELCO: folds
MEGADEATHcollected 200 from pot
MEGADEATH: shows [Kc Ah] (high card Ace)


*********** # 51 **************
PokerStars Game #1696475461: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/05/14 - 14:08:25 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1235 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2615 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1620 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (2471 in chips)
Seat 8: LIONELCO (1580 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3979 in chips)
LIONELCO: posts small blind 50
lacombek: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Ks Ts]
RiverMonkey has timed out while being disconnected
RiverMonkey: folds
RiverMonkey is sitting out
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH raises 150 to 250
LIONELCO: folds
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey has returned
MEGADEATH collected 250 from pot
MEGADEATH: doesn't show hand

*********** # 50 **************
PokerStars Game #1696478892: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/05/14 - 14:09:05 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1235 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2615 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1620 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (2621 in chips)
Seat 8: LIONELCO (1530 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3879 in chips)
lacombek: posts small blind 50
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [5c Ac]
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: raises 150 to 250
LIONELCO: folds
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 250 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand


*Key Hand Here, i did alot of thinking and figured gutshot + any ace + any heart, i had to go for it*

*********** # 49 **************
PokerStars Game #1696481379: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2005/05/14 - 14:09:34 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1135 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2615 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1620 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (2771 in chips)
Seat 8: LIONELCO (1530 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3829 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 50
bayoupoker2: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[4h Ah]
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: calls 100
LIONELCO: calls 100
lacombek: calls 100
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: checks
*** FLOP *** [5c Jh 3h]
bayoupoker2: checks
MEGADEATH bets 200
LIONELCO: raises 1230 to 1430 and is all-in
lacombek: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
MEGADEATH calls 1230
*** TURN *** [5c Jh 3h] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [5c Jh 3h 9h] [7h]
MEGADEATHsaid, "math said i call"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MEGADEATH shows [4h Ah] (a flush, Ace high)
LIONELCO: shows [Qd Js] (a pair of Jacks)
MEGADEATH collected 3310 from pot


*********** # 46 **************
PokerStars Game #1696493112: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:11:52 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1085 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2465 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1470 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (4601 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3879 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 75
lacombek: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Td 8d]
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: raises 300 to 450
lacombek: folds
MEGADEATH collected 300 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand


*********** # 41 **************
PokerStars Game #1696502467: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:13:42 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1085 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2765 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1470 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(4601 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3579 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 75
lacombek: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Ac 8s]
lacombek said, "jj"
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: raises 300 to 450
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH raises 500 to 950
lacombek: folds
lacombek said, "oooooooooooooooooooooooo"
bayoupoker2: folds
MEGADEATHcollected 1050 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

The Above hand was an easy play, look at his stack size compared to mine, and who is left, he obviously does not want to risk his tournament life on it.


*Here's a perfect hand on how NOT to play KK*

*********** # 33 **************
PokerStars Game #1696519304: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:16:59 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1085 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2390 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1695 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(4976 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3354 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 75
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Kd Ks]
MEGADEATH calls 150
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: checks
*** FLOP *** [6h 9c As]
THE BIG ERN: checks
MEGADEATH checks
*** TURN *** [6h 9c As] [8s]
THE BIG ERN: checks
MEGADEATH bets 150
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATHcollected 375 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

I was raising too much lately so i figured i'd limp it + hopefully i would think Rivermonkey would try for the dead money in the pot


*Heres another play with stack size to knock back the second place person*

*********** # 32 **************
PokerStars Game #1696522156: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:17:33 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1085 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2315 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1545 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(5201 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (3354 in chips)
THE BIG ERN: posts small blind 75
MEGADEATH posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[7h 2d]
lacombek: raises 300 to 450
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATHraises 383 to 833
lacombek: calls 383
*** FLOP *** [4d 7d Kh]
MEGADEATHbets 1000
lacombek: folds
MEGADEATH collected 1741 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

*********** # 27 **************
PokerStars Game #1696536082: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:20:17 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (2020 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2765 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1320 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(6034 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (1361 in chips)
THE BIG ERN: posts small blind 75
MEGADEATH posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [9c Jc]
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey: calls 150
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 7d 3c]
MEGADEATH bets 450
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 375 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

*Once again its all about stack sizes, this is why these plays will work and continue to work*

*********** # 25 **************
PokerStars Game #1696542155: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150) - 2005/05/14 - 14:21:28 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1870 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2765 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1245 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(6109 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (1511 in chips)
lacombek: posts small blind 75
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[6c Qh]
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH raises 300 to 450
lacombek: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 375 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

*Taking it from the mediums, not the small stack*

*********** # 24 **************
PokerStars Game #1696544362: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:21:54 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #9 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1720 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2765 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1245 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(6334 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (1436 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
bayoupoker2: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Js 6d]
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH raises 400 to 600
lacombek: raises 836 to 1436 and is all-in
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
MEGADEATH: folds
lacombek collected 1500 from pot

*********** # 23 **************
PokerStars Game #1696545883: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:22:13 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1620 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2565 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1245 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(5734 in chips)
Seat 9: lacombek (2336 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 100
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [4d 4h]
MEGADEATH raises 400 to 600
lacombek: raises 1736 to 2336 and is all-in
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: calls 1736
*** FLOP *** [4s 9d 5s]
MEGADEATH said, "wow suckout"
*** TURN *** [4s 9d 5s] [Kh]
MEGADEATH said, "mania"
*** RIVER *** [4s 9d 5s Kh] [2s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MEGADEATH shows [4d 4h] (three of a kind, Fours)
lacombek: shows [Js Jd] (a pair of Jacks)
MEGADEATH collected 4972 from pot

*This made me think alot, i made this play because i could see him doing that with AQ AJ KQ, plus if i lost this i would not be in trouble (for my standards), and it showed i was willing to call with crap to anyone left*

*********** # 21 **************
PokerStars Game #1696550867: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:23:10 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1620 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2465 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (945 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(8470 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [4h Jc]
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: raises 8270 to 8470 and is all-in
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 400 from pot
MEGADEATH: doesn't show hand

* Just trying to keep Big Ern Alive*

*********** # 20 **************
PokerStars Game #1696553251: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:23:38 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1420 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2465 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (945 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (8670 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
bayoupoker2: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Td 2c]
RiverMonkey said, "i like corn alot"
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH raises 8470 to 8670 and is all-in
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
MEGADEATH collected 500 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

*********** # 19 **************
PokerStars Game #1696554782: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:23:56 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1320 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2265 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (945 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(8970 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 100
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Ah Jc]
MEGADEATH: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: raises 800 to 1000
THE BIG ERN: folds
bayoupoker2 collected 400 from pot
bayoupoker2: doesn't show hand

*Small Stacks big blind, im willing to go all in with T2o, but i dont wanna play AJ cause whats to gain by taking his chips?*

*********** # 17 **************
PokerStars Game #1696560229: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:24:59 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1320 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2465 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (645 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (9070 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [8s 8h]
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: raises 445 to 645 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: raises 8425 to 9070 and is all-in
RiverMonkey: folds
*** FLOP *** [As 2s Th]
*** TURN *** [As 2s Th] [Qd]
MEGADEATH said, "nh"
*** RIVER *** [As 2s Th Qd] [9c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MEGADEATH: shows [8s 8h] (a pair of Eights)
THE BIG ERN: shows [Qh Qc] (three of a kind, Queens)
THE BIG ERN said, "TY"
THE BIG ERN collected 1490 from pot

*I Sincerely didn't care about doubling him up, i was happy that he got back into it, because then i could punish the other stacks*


*********** # 15 **************
PokerStars Game #1696565772: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:26:05 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (920 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2665 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1490 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (8425 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 100
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [9s 2h]
MEGADEATH: raises 1290 to 1490
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH collected 500 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

This hand was a calculated gamble, i knew big ern would not call, i was only worried about rivermonkey, but seeing how he was dealer and had nothing invested i could not see him doing this without a strong PP or ace, which chances are he doesnt have, so i felt very comfortable making constant plays like the hand above

*********** # 14 **************
PokerStars Game #1696567303: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:26:23 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (920 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2565 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (1290 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(8725 in chips)
THE BIG ERN: posts small blind 100
MEGADEATH: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Qd Kd]
RiverMonkey: raises 720 to 920 and is all-in
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: folds
MEGADEATH: calls 720
*** FLOP *** [8h 7s Jc]
*** TURN *** [8h 7s Jc] [9s]
*** RIVER *** [8h 7s Jc 9s] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MEGADEATH: shows [Qd Kd] (a pair of Sevens)
RiverMonkey: shows [Ac Ts] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
RiverMonkey collected 1940 from pot

*********** # 10 **************
PokerStars Game #1696578785: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:28:38 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1640 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2865 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (990 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (8005 in chips)
THE BIG ERN: posts small blind 100
lol_E_pop: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Td Tc]
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: folds
THE BIG ERN: raises 790 to 990 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: calls 790
*** FLOP *** [6h Kc 4d]
*** TURN *** [6h Kc 4d] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [6h Kc 4d Ts] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
THE BIG ERN: shows [Kh Ad] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
MEGADEATH: shows [Td Tc] (three of a kind, Tens)

*I thought long and hard about folding this, but i realized ill be at nearly 10k in chips and it will be easy riding from there to win*

*********** # 9 **************
PokerStars Game #1696581469: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:29:10 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1640 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2865 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (8995 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
bayoupoker2: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[As Ac]
MEGADEATH: calls 200
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: raises 1200 to 1400
MEGADEATH: calls 1200
*** FLOP *** [5h 9s 3c]
bayoupoker2: bets 1465 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: calls 1465
*** TURN *** [5h 9s 3c] [4h]
*** RIVER *** [5h 9s 3c 4h] [8s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bayoupoker2: shows [Qs Ah] (high card Ace)
MEGADEATH: shows [As Ac] (a pair of Aces)
MEGADEATH said, "gg"
MEGADEATH collected 5830 from pot

And then the Short / Final Heads up Rollover

*********** # 7 **************
PokerStars Game #1696587825: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:30:16 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1440 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (12060 in chips)
lol_E_pop: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Kd 8c]
MEGADEATH: raises 200 to 400
RiverMonkey: raises 1040 to 1440 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: calls 1040
*** FLOP *** [Qs 5c 7s]
*** TURN *** [Qs 5c 7s] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [Qs 5c 7s 5s] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RiverMonkey: shows [Jc Kc] (a pair of Fives)
MEGADEATH: shows [Kd 8c] (a pair of Fives - lower kicker)
RiverMonkey collected 2880 from pot

*********** # 6 **************
PokerStars Game #1696590427: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:30:47 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (2880 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(10620 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
MEGADEATH: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [8c 2d]
RiverMonkey: calls 100
MEGADEATH: checks
*** FLOP *** [6h 6c Ts]
MEGADEATH: bets 400
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 400 from pot
MEGADEATH doesn't show hand

*********** # 5 **************
PokerStars Game #1696593043: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:31:15 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (2680 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (10820 in chips)
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Ac 8d]
MEGADEATH: raises 200 to 400
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 400 from pot
MEGADEATH: doesn't show hand

*********** # 4 **************
PokerStars Game #1696594489: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:31:30 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (2480 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH (11020 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
MEGADEATH: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[4h Js]
RiverMonkey: calls 100
MEGADEATH: checks
*** FLOP *** [5h 6s Ts]
MEGADEATH: checks
RiverMonkey: bets 400
MEGADEATH: raises 400 to 800
RiverMonkey: raises 1480 to 2280 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: folds
RiverMonkey collected 2000 from pot
RiverMonkey: shows [Ks Kh] (a pair of Kings)

*********** # 3 **************
PokerStars Game #1696598104: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:32:07 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (3480 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(10020 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts the ante 25
MEGADEATH: posts the ante 25
MEGADEATH: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[9s Ad]
MEGADEATH: raises 200 to 400
RiverMonkey: folds
RiverMonkey said, "k6?"
MEGADEATH collected 450 from pot
MEGADEATH: doesn't show hand

*********** # 2 **************
PokerStars Game #1696599729: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:32:24 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (3255 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(10245 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts the ante 25
MEGADEATH: posts the ante 25
RiverMonkey: posts small blind 100
MEGADEATH: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Js 9h]
RiverMonkey: calls 100
MEGADEATH: raises 200 to 400
RiverMonkey: folds
MEGADEATH collected 450 from pot
MEGADEATH: doesn't show hand

*********** # 1 **************
PokerStars Game #1696601935: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VII (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:32:48 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (3030 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(10470 in chips)
RiverMonkey: posts the ante 25
lol_E_pop: posts the ante 25
lol_E_pop: posts small blind 100
RiverMonkey: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH [Jh As]
MEGADEATH: raises 200 to 400
RiverMonkey: raises 2605 to 3005 and is all-in
MEGADEATH: calls 2605
*** FLOP *** [5d 6c 4c]
*** TURN *** [5d 6c 4c] [3d]
RiverMonkey said, "n1"
*** RIVER *** [5d 6c 4c 3d] [5c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RiverMonkey: shows [8h Ad] (a pair of Fives)
MEGADEATH shows [Jh As] (a pair of Fives - Jack kicker)

It's alot easier to demonstrate if i show every hand history, but alot of it was just boring standard plays, i won the A4s coinflip and i got lucky with the 44 vs JJ, but i still feel even if i lost either i would win anyways. Hopefully this history will help someone with bubble troubles, or if anyone has any questions just ask. And yes, i changed my name so it looks a bit weird...

[drmcboy]

I don't get the limp with KK - if you've been raising a lot of pots, it's the perfect time to raise with KK. Other than that good play, although if you're trying to maintain the bubble I'm not sure why you're calling the AI with 44.

Also on the A4 hand I'm not sure why you think that was an iffy call, you're likely even money here.

[ZenOffsuit]

Why the re-raise on hand #41? Did you sense weakness in your opponent? I would probably put him on a med. pp (88s-jjs) trying to protect with that raise. I like your aggression there but just wondering what made you decide to do it in that situation. You didn't have a huge chip stack at that point and if he called and beat you in a horse race, it could have done some damage.

[megadeath]

I don't get the limp with KK - if you've been raising a lot of pots, it's the perfect time to raise with KK. Other than that good play, although if you're trying to maintain the bubble I'm not sure why you're calling the AI with 44.

Also on the A4 hand I'm not sure why you think that was an iffy call, you're likely even money here.

yea the KK hand was played horribly, i only added it because i wanted to show the black spots on the record also. The 44 hand was really a thinker for me, this guy was the only guy really standing up to my raises, and he went over the top earlier when i raised with J6, this one i was thinking if he had JJ+ he would mini-re-raised me preflop so i put him on 77-99 (which all have me dominated) or some High Paint, i opted for the High Paint choice and since i had 600 in i had to go for it, plus it showed i would be willing to call with a bit of a marginal hand. I feel even if i lost that flip i would be able to get back up through steals and pick-off's. But yea, it was marginal there..

[megadeath]

Why the re-raise on hand #41? Did you sense weakness in your opponent? I would probably put him on a med. pp (88s-jjs) trying to protect with that raise. I like your aggression there but just wondering what made you decide to do it in that situation. You didn't have a huge chip stack at that point and if he called and beat you in a horse race, it could have done some damage.

Yea i didn't even look at my cards when i re-raised there, i raised enough as if to say "Hey, i got a hand call me" I just looked at his chip stack, 2700 with two people above him, if he folds he's still sitting comfortably in third, if he calls there is alot of pressure on him and i would ONLY put him all in if the flop came rags. I felt he might have had a10 AJ KQ of the sort, something that COULD be dominated given someone re-raised him preflop. The same voice of reason goes with the 72 hand where i re-raised preflop, i felt he was tight enough to think to fold, cause he doesnt wanna get bubbled.

Also to further make that decision, earlier at blinds 50/100 i saw him mini raise KK. Assuming he mini raises all high Pocket's, its safe to say he doesnt have a hand he wants to race with. I Only chose to raise there to knock his chip stack back down.

[Crunch]

Hey, thanks for the info on bubble play. It was very informative and made me look at bubble play in a new way. Instead of just banging away eith the intent on taking people out, focusing on the middle stacks is pretty smart.

A couple questions:

Theres a few points where you say that you were protecting the small stack....I don't understand how you were doing it.

The second question is what size of a SnG were you playing? I play at the lower levels, and I want to see if you were playing against 'smarter' people at a higher buy-in or not.

[ADWCTA]

awsome stuff here, I've been having trouble with playing as the big stack in non-ITM situations. (not that much trouble getting there... just can't keep it).

two questions:
- what was the buy in level? (lower buy in = more likely people will call you)
- if the blinds were higher (lets say 200/400), would you have been playing a similarly aggressive style? (higher blinds = more likely people will call you when they know you're pushing them... and I play on Party, so the stack size v blinds is usually pretty horrible at the 20+2 level)

*********** # 19 **************
PokerStars Game #1696554782: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:23:56 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1320 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2265 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (945 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(8970 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 100
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Ah Jc]
MEGADEATH: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: raises 800 to 1000
THE BIG ERN: folds
bayoupoker2 collected 400 from pot
bayoupoker2: doesn't show hand

*Small Stacks big blind, im willing to go all in with T2o, but i dont wanna play AJ cause whats to gain by taking his chips?*


This play really bothers me, why preserve the bubble here and later call the same guy when in either situation, if you win, you end up with 10k chips?

[drmcboy]

Hey I played with this RiverMonkey guy I think, was gambling with a big stack, then went really tight when hit average stack. That was 50/5 2 Table

And I'm glad the AJ hand came up, I had forgotten, I think you have to raise here.

[ADWCTA]

tried this "push with anything" stratagy for a few hands after playing tight early (got really lucky... AA twice, KK once... so i have about half the # of total chips, 5 players left all equal chip count... around 1k... blinds were 100/200) at a 20+2 SnG at Party.

then I started to steal blinds everytime.
first two were sucessful, then they caught on.
a guy re-raised me (I had 2x his chip stack... his re-raise all in was about 4x my bet)... I had T8s, folded
then, I tried it again, got re-raised by someone else, this time I'm holding 38o so I fold again.
Now, being med stacked, I stopped the "steal every time" stratagy and reverted back to my usual, steal the blinds when either opportunity or cards presents itself play.
By now, 5th place is gone, I'm tied for third in chip stack size with 4th place. He tried a blind steal against large stack, hit against AK, lost.

So once again I'm heavily understacked going into ITM

I ended up placing only third, (tried to blind steal all in [4xBB] against another player with same stack size as me, he held pocket Ks...).

Anything you would have done differently?

[megadeath]

tried this "push with anything" stratagy for a few hands after playing tight early (got really lucky... AA twice, KK once... so i have about half the # of total chips, 5 players left all equal chip count... around 1k... blinds were 100/200) at a 20+2 SnG at Party.

then I started to steal blinds everytime.
first two were sucessful, then they caught on.
a guy re-raised me (I had 2x his chip stack... his re-raise all in was about 4x my bet)... I had T8s, folded
then, I tried it again, got re-raised by someone else, this time I'm holding 38o so I fold again.
Now, being med stacked, I stopped the "steal every time" stratagy and reverted back to my usual, steal the blinds when either opportunity or cards presents itself play.
By now, 5th place is gone, I'm tied for third in chip stack size with 4th place. He tried a blind steal against large stack, hit against AK, lost.

So once again I'm heavily understacked going into ITM

I ended up placing only third, (tried to blind steal all in [4xBB] against another player with same stack size as me, he held pocket Ks...).

Anything you would have done differently?

im not sure if you were adressing this to me, but post your Hand History if you can

[megadeath]

awsome stuff here, I've been having trouble with playing as the big stack in non-ITM situations. (not that much trouble getting there... just can't keep it).

two questions:
- what was the buy in level? (lower buy in = more likely people will call you)
- if the blinds were higher (lets say 200/400), would you have been playing a similarly aggressive style? (higher blinds = more likely people will call you when they know you're pushing them... and I play on Party, so the stack size v blinds is usually pretty horrible at the 20+2 level)

*********** # 19 **************
PokerStars Game #1696554782: Tournament #7925103, Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2005/05/14 - 14:23:56 (ET)
Table '7925103 1' Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: RiverMonkey (1320 in chips)
Seat 3: bayoupoker2 (2265 in chips)
Seat 6: THE BIG ERN (945 in chips)
Seat 7: MEGADEATH(8970 in chips)
bayoupoker2: posts small blind 100
THE BIG ERN: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to MEGADEATH[Ah Jc]
MEGADEATH: folds
RiverMonkey: folds
bayoupoker2: raises 800 to 1000
THE BIG ERN: folds
bayoupoker2 collected 400 from pot
bayoupoker2: doesn't show hand

*Small Stacks big blind, im willing to go all in with T2o, but i dont wanna play AJ cause whats to gain by taking his chips?*


This play really bothers me, why preserve the bubble here and later call the same guy when in either situation, if you win, you end up with 10k chips?

the buy-in for that hand history for 30, but i use the same idea in the 50's and occasionaly 100's. 50's and 30's i play alike, 10's (which i dont play anymore) it would be alot harder to employ this strategy as more people are willing to call. But with 30's 4th = 0 3rd = 54. 54 More dollars in your account if you fold your marginal hand along with your blind to the pressing big stack, most people will. If the blinds were higher (200/400) I would try to find someone around 1000 chips left and leave him alone, fold my blinds to him etc.. from there i would go all in (regardless of cards) to anyone from a stack of 1500-2700 so long as my stack is 4500+. (which it is, rarely if ever do i squeek ITM) They would know im buying it, but what can they do about it? They can call me and wait for a hand like AJ, but thats not going to stop my 10/7 from suckout out 40% of the time. + everytime they fold you can afford to have one or 2 people stand up to you, as you make it up within 2 orbits of stealing blinds. The Hand history shows what hand # it is, i obviously skipped a few and didn't steal everytime. I have to make sure my opponents are not total morons, if that is the case i basically just play my card's. But yes, i would use the same agressive style if the blinds were higher, next time i play a Sit n Go i'll post my hand history from when i switch from tight to loose.

[megadeath]

Hey, thanks for the info on bubble play. It was very informative and made me look at bubble play in a new way. Instead of just banging away eith the intent on taking people out, focusing on the middle stacks is pretty smart.

A couple questions:

Theres a few points where you say that you were protecting the small stack....I don't understand how you were doing it.

The second question is what size of a SnG were you playing? I play at the lower levels, and I want to see if you were playing against 'smarter' people at a higher buy-in or not.

That SNG was a 30.. I Play 30's 50's and occasionaly 100's. I roughly get 55-63% ITM on 30's.. 50% ITM on 50's and 100's i have only tried 4x so its way too small of sample size. I dont really suggest this strategy at too low of buy-in level because people would tend to call (They'll think at whatever if i squeeze in i make $4.. i may as well gamble)
I missed some hand histories where i was folding my blind to the Small stacks all in (at one point he was hurting at around x2.5 bb and i folded A9s in my BB to him) I was protecting the Small stack in as much as way as i could, never once did i steal the blind from him, if the small stack doubled up i would now protect the smaller stack, if everyone is above 1500 at say blinds 100/200.. Everyone is fair game, only when i knock them down horridly (say 75/150) with around 800 chips left.. do i stop picking on them. There HAS to be a small stack for this strategy to work, if there isnt people will think 'oh crap i have to double up, this guy is stealing my blind for the 5th time i cant fold AJ here' where as if there is a small stack people are thinking all they have to do is outlast 'that other guy' and then from there they can stand up to me. But at that time it's too late so its easy. Roughly 70% of my ITM's are first's due to this..

[ADWCTA]

bah, that's a really really nice 1st rate.

with a even chip stack or better going to HU, that's about the rate I finish at... but it's much less from ITM.