Am I wasting my time here?

[Whitey]

It seems every time I get aggressive around the bubble in a $10 rebuy it backfires on me, should I reserve my bubble play for higher buy in tournaments where people are capable of folding or is my timing just off?

Stars $10 rebuy, 55 left 45 pay, I have 80k which is good for 7th place, BB barely has me covered.

BB has open raised 5 or 6 times in last two orbits, I havn't played a hand since moving to the table 10 mins ago.

Blinds 2k/1k with ante.

Folded to me on the button and I raise to 6k with A3o, BB re-raises to 18k I push, he practicaly insta-calls with AQo and IGHN

[Lloyd]

Where to begin. First of all, pick your battles. You want to go after medium stacks who could make the money by just folding. Attacking small stacks usually isn't smart since they often feel desperate and will call you. And going after stacks that can bust you is just insane. With an aggressive player in the BB who has me covered, I would most likely just fold A3 on the button. He has a good understanding of bubble play and will most likely put you to a test for your chips.

His re-raise to 18k was very strong. If he was on a pure steal he would probably be more inclined to push versus making a normal raise.

The $10RB on Stars is not like other $10 tournies. Yes, it draws its share of poor players but there are very good players in it as well.

[Whitey]

Hi Lloyd

Thanks for the reply.

Ok please bear with me here, you saying I should be picking on the medium stacks who are afraid of bubbling, should I be re-raising these guys when they raise? If there scared of going out arn't they only raising with premium hands anyway? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Lloyd]

That is exactly what I'm saying. Now, if a medium stack is very tight then I wouldn't be re-raising with any two. And you have to consider who is acting behind you as well. You don't want to push for a steal when there are quite a few left to act who could pick up a big hand and hurt you. You also have to think about pot odds. If they raise and you push, what odds would they be getting. If the odds are too good then they are more likely to call. Bit if it's a typical (not too tight) medium stack and they raise, and you're in LP or in the blinds, you can give serious thought to putting them all in. There are many hands they would raise with that they would very likely fold (medium pairs, AQ/AJ, KQ, etc.). And if they call, hopefully you've got two live cards and at least have some outs. Plus, you're doing this against stacks that can't hurt you too much.

Understanding stack size, who is left to act, and player tendencies are keys to correct and aggressive bubble play. If you don't have a solid grasp on these concepts you're probably better off not getting too fancy until you do.

And I would rarely, if ever, call of my stack when it's a pretty decent size and I've got A3.

[Whitey]

Exellent reply, thanks again.

Next question is, when DO you consider re-raising with air?

Is it reserved for specific reads, or when your a medium to short stack, card dead but still holding some folding equity. (not neccessarily around the bubble)

[betgo]

The nature of your opponent is part of the problem. However, a lot of it is your hand. A3o is a 3-1 dog to most raising hands. I would rather steal the blinds with some sort of standard limping hand, like a suited conenctor, a pp, or two broadway cards. You have more chance of flopping something decent with that kind of hand and you can stand more action preflop.

Second of all, as Lloyd pointed out, you need a stronger hand to raise the blinds of a bigger stack. There should be much better opportunities.

Once he reraises, the chances he will fold to a push are not great. When you push, you are probably going to be allin a 3-1 dog.

The initial raise was not terrible. A3o is a common button raising hand. You had a big stack and if the BB was not playing tight because of the bubble, the SB might be.

The problem was that when the steal did not work and you got reraised you needed to fold. There is a difference between playing aggressively and playing like a maniac.