Trouble with the bubble

[Borknagar]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new poster with a problem that some of you might recognize. I come from full limit ring games and am giving SnG's a serious shot. My problem is that it is easy for em to reach the last 5 places, even the last four. But on the bubble I drop out like half the time, which is freaking me out.

To me, the bubble is the toughest part of the game. I have read the theads on bbble play in the Sng FAQ 3.0 and other threads, but its not getting me much further.

So my question is if you can help me improve my bubble game with some advice. What improved your bubble game the most?

[DasLeben]

The biggest thing I learned was that I had to grow a pair and learn to push trash because it's +EV.

Now I enjoy doing that immensely. Go figure.

[Psy_Mike]

Well it sounds to me as you're playing too tight before the bubble. That was my problem before. I started out playing tight in the early stages, and didn't really increase my aggression as I should have as the game proceeded.

Try pushing more in the middle stages of the tourney and build a bit of stack for yourself. I usually try to avoid battles with the chipleaders at that point, but instead focus on bullying the shortstack around. If I'm the shortstack it's mostly all-in or fold for me, putting the decisions on my opponents.

Goodluck by the way!

[lastchance]

Being pushing at L3, push more at L4, and be in a constant state of push after L5.

Always think of the number of active players left, and the less there are, the more inclined you are to push with trash and steal. Against one opponent, I'm taking a shot at the pot 80% of the time. Against two, that's only going to be 50 or so. Against three, it becomes like 30.