Closing the deal -- semi-long
 

I wonder how common my current predicament is. I haven't been playing Multis for very long, now -- Only about 50 or so, total. My ITM rate is good -- 30% or so. (I know, small sample size, blah blah.) I've gotten a couple of 2nds in tiny tourneys of ~100-200 people, but no wins. I'm not so concerned about that. What's bugging me is the number of deep-money-but-still-crappy finishes I'm getting. I'm talking about like 27th in an 800 person field (Tonight's result. 63 paid.)

I don't feel like I've busted out on many lousy plays (tonight may have been an exception, though [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] ) Mostly, when I've busted out like 43rd, it was an "oh well, that's life" sort of situation.

When the bubble ends, I tend to have a respectable, but below-average stack. I think the answer is I need to step up my aggression somewhere and try to build a bigger stack earlier, but I'm not sure where.

So, after all that, I have a couple questions. Let's assume a reasonably big field -- 700 or more.

1) Roughly where in the field do you need to be immediately after the bubble in order to feel like you have a pretty good final table shot? (i.e. near the middle, top 25%, etc.)

2) How much of that stack should a good player have before the bubble hits, and how much should he build by punishing weak bubble players, roughly? (A common scenario for me is to approach the bubble with an M of around 8-10, and double my stack by the time the bubble ends. In other words, SNG old-timer that I am, I may rely too much on my bubble play.)

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Re: Closing the deal -- semi-long
 

To answer both questions, doesn't really matter as long as you've got at least enough for 2 rounds. You really need to start pushing with marginal ahnds if you have a small stack and hope to gamble it up. Not so much that you are just horribly pissing your money away, but you've gotta pick your spots.

In all of my very deep money finishes, I had very short stacks around the midway mark where you seem to be falling out. Like 27th place or 40th place. To be honest, I don't build my stack THAT much during the bubble. I maybe buy myself maybe 2 or 3 rounds and then I get the rest by picking spots to go all in. It could be that my luckbox is overflowing the past month, but I don't think i'm doing a horrible job in these MTT things. It sounds like you just aren't having luck go on your side.

You don't need to worry about having a below-average stack after the bubble. People still play pretty weak all throughout the tourney up until the final 3 or 4 tables. Maybe even final two. Just don't let yourself get to an M below 2, cause then its time to push just about any two.