Copyright 2007 Full
Tilt Poker
August 23, 2007
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Poker Lessons)
Poker Lesson: Bubble Play In Tournaments
Author: Paul Sexton
I had just bubbled in the $2,000 Seven-Card
Stud Tournament at the World Series of Poker*. I had a drawing
hand and I ended up losing all my chips, which was a big mistake.
I was embarrassed. I was talking to my Dad – Full
Tilt Poker pro, Keith Sexton – and I said, “I
can’t believe how unlucky I got.” He disagreed, and
said my play was just incredibly stupid in regard to money and
chip management, based on where I stood in the tournament. He
was right.
People say, “You’re not playing to get
into the money – you’re playing to win,” but
when you make the money, you go from zero dollars to double your
buy-in. The biggest jump in money outside of making it to the
final table is getting into the money. I didn’t really understand
that. Winning the hand that I busted on wasn’t important
in the grand scheme of things.
The next tournament I played was the $1,500 Mixed
Limit/No-Limit event. I got so low on chips I had to decide whether
to take a chance, with slim odds of winning the tournament, or
just try to hang on and make it past the bubble and then call
it a day. By staying patient and paying close attention to the
field, I managed to cash before I busted.
There are a number of things you need to be aware
of in these situations, including the status of everybody else
around you. Knowing how many chips you have in relation to the
field is crucial in terms of helping you decide at what point
you have to make the painful decision that you’re just going
to have to fold hands to get into the money. You’re basically
sacrificing your tournament, the chance to get to the final table,
and your chance to win. But sometimes you have to do it.
You need to know where other players are in the
tournament, especially the smaller stacks and what their situation
is. How many stacks are below you? Where are they in relation
to the blinds? I had a real low stack, three off the money in
the mixed event, but I knew there were a couple of short stacks
that were going to be forced into the blinds before I was. One
player was at a shorter table than I was and another was under-the-gun
while I was on the button, so I knew that I could be patient because
they were going to have to play a hand before I was. That’s
really important because, if you’re sitting there and you
know you’re next with a hand like Ace-10, you’re going
to have to throw your chips in. But if you have Ace-10 and another
guy is going to have to make a decision whether to go all-in or
not before you, then you can lay it down. Other players’
situations have a huge bearing on what hands you’re going
to play.
Short-stacked on the bubble, I’m folding everything,
including big pairs. Looking around the room, I knew that one
player was going to be all-in in the blinds and that I had four
hands before the blinds were going hit me. I had almost nothing
in front of me – maybe 1,300 chips - and the average chip
stack was around 33,000. Still, I would have folded pocket Kings
on that hand because what’s the difference? Even if I triple
up, I’m still all–in when the blinds reach me. All
I’m doing is risking my money there. That pot is insignificant.
I’d rather take my chances and hope that the other player
who has to go all-in gets knocked out before me.
It’s sickening to bubble out in a tournament.
People talk about it all the time. You go over it with friends.
You figure out what you did wrong and if you make an improvement
from the last time, that’s great. The cost of my lesson
was my $2,000 buy-in in the Stud event. You can make the same
mistake at a final table where it costs you hundreds of thousands
of dollars, so I got off pretty cheaply. You never want to be
forced to fold into the money, or a bigger pay day, but sometimes
it’s just smart poker.
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