Shifting gears on 'The Bubble'

[Crunch]

Quick question for you, in a single table SnG, where does 'The Bubble' begin, with regards to shifting gears when people tighten up? For example, a $5 SnG at Stars. Is 4th too late to turn on the heat? Is 5th or 6th better to start playing more? Do the blinds factor in, as in when you hit 100-200 its time to start firing?

Is there any guidelines that are reasonable to follow? I just find by the time I start banging away in the final 4, I'm too short to do enough damage.

[Fortune 500]

I personally consider 5 left to be the beginning of the bubble personally. Good question.

[arkana]

I personally think it depends on the blinds and not the amount of people left.

EDIT: i meant the time you should shift gears depends on the blinds, on the bubble is always when the amount of players left is one more than the number of places paid

[vqc]

I turn on the heat when there are 5 people and the blinds are at 50/100. That is my start.

Although there are other situations which can occur. Those are purely cirucmstantial and u will have to experience those. Once, There was 4 people left and the lbinds were at like 30/60. That was very wierd. I freaked out and I was so lost.

[ihategnomes]

50/100 is where I like to turn up the heat, as long as we are 6 handed or less.

[ZenOffsuit]

I agree with 50/100 and 5 or 6 players being the moment to flip the switch and be an aggressive player. But I would also add that the total of the blinds in relation to your stack should determine how much you 'turn up the heat'. If the blinds are less then 10% of my stack, I don't get too aggressive with marginal hands. I am in chip conserving mode.
Only if I sense weakness in the BB will I make a steal at this point.

If the blinds account for 15% of your stack or more, I get more aggresive with more hands and focus on accumulating chips. Try to steal more, semi-bluff etc.

Although I usually turn on the heat anywhere and everywhere :P, I would suggest that you wait for the blinds to reach 50/100 and/or 6 players left if you want to pick an exact spot to push people around.

But like I said, I just push people around anyway.

<--- Taught to play poker by Ripptyde.

[TLR]

One more factor to consider is your stack size and the size of the other stacks.
If I am the big stack I like to be agressive when there are about 6 people around
If I am middle stacked and the big stacks are agressive I dont try to get too aggresive, I try to pick the good spots to play and try to maintain decent stack size to make it into the money
If I am short stacked I wait for a decent hand and go all in trying to double up or be busted.

Regarding blind stealing I usuallly dont try that until the blinds are 75-150