Playing with uneven stacks inside the 'bubble'

G'day all,

I've been playing Freeroll and Low stakes MTTs for four months now on various sites and I think my opening play is quite solid. I don't have very much trouble making it regularly into the money.

I'm finding though that once I get inside the 'bubble' I have difficulty progressing to the final table. I've managed to get down to the final two tables a few times now, but not the final table.

What seems to be the issue is that once the stacks become unbalanced I find myself with solid pocket cards getting pushed around by the larger stacks. I'm finding I am often getting drawn all-in when I raise in with decent, but not power-house, hands like 99, TT, or ATs.

Does anyone have any general tips for me once this stage of the tournament is reached, particularly when you have a stack that is mid to low range in size?

Thanks in advance,

leeroy5000

[ansky451]

This is a common "symptom" among the more inexperienced players. I'll try to be as clear as possible, but it's better to give specific hands to give advice on.

First of all, don't be afraid to take risks in the early-mid stages. It is very highly EV to have a big stack on the bubble and past it. You will be able to bully the table around, and take risks that small stacks can't take. Make sure you play around with pokerstove (www.pokerstove.com) a lot, and you know equity ranges. It is crucial to be able to identify cEV+ situations and exploit them.

Be intensely aggressive. You need to play off other players fear. A lot of players in a tournament aren't playing to win, they play to climb up the payout ladder. They are the reason tournaments are so profitable. Make sure you know who the gamblers are, and who the tighties are, so you can play accordingly. You can build your stack quite a bit playing pots in late position.

You always need to know what mind-set you should be in. With 5 big blinds or less, you are basically waiting for a spot to open raise all in. If you are in late position, and you have a chance to open push, you basically don't need to look at your cards. When you are closer to 10 big blinds, you should be playing relatively tight, but NOT scared or passsive. If an aggro player raises in late position and you see A9s or KQ or 55, don't be afraid to shove. Coinflips arent fun, but they are unavoidable. When you have 10- 15 big blinds, you should basically be playing tight solid poker. You don't have the type of stack to be stealing liberally, but you also arent so short that you need to go nuts. Wait for good steal oppurtunities, and don't be afraid to resteal with junk if a LAG raises your big blind.

When you have a big stack, you should be very adaptive to the table dynamics. If the shortstacks are playing very aggressive, and the midstacks don't look like they are going to get bullied, you can sit back, and play solid poker. But if the table is playing very tight, and looking to move up the ladder, take advantage of that. Open raise 23o on the button. Reraise T4o from your big blind if theres a loose opener (and hes deep enough to fold). Never, ever, ever, underestimate the power and importance of position.

Take a look at the "anthology" sticky, for some more good advice. I especially liked eMarkm's classic post- when I was having trouble with MTTs.

Also, just because you haven't gotten there doesn't neccesarily mean you are doing anything particularly wrong. Tournament poker is very "swingy" and you can play well, and not get the results you want for a while. Good luck.

[Blindcurve]

Nice post, ansky.

I like the bit about knowing what mindset to be in. This is a lot of what I focus on now (as opposed to proving I can outplay the table) and it means I don't invent decisions for myself out of worry, or boredom.