Playing the bubble in Poker Tournaments

Tournament poker strategy has long been about to tell players about the best way to play in certain situations such as playing the bubble within the tournament poker scene, so trying to battle through the field to make sure that you aren't the last of the players to not gain entry into the paid positions.

For years poker strategy books and websites have told you how you should alter you play into an ultra defensive state, avoiding confrontation with any player as you look to wait until another player is eliminated from the game, leaving you firmly within the payouts before you look to increase on your stack further.

But with so many guides telling players that they should look to avoid playing hands while they are close to been crowned the tournament bubble, is this truly the best strategy for all players?

Honestly, the advice that is offered there is great for players who find themselves towards the bottom end of the tournament listings for the number of chips that a player has but for the higher ranking players, you need to be looking to alter your play to accommodate for players who will be looking to carry this strategy into this moment in the tournament.

Taking advantage of this advice would mean that you are able to raise the action without too much risk of smaller stacked players calling your play unless they are holding a premium hand that carries a high strength ranking.

So with a table full of short stacked players, you have a great opportunity to take blinds and other forced bets from under those players noses as they look to cling on to the little bit of tournament life that they have left in them.

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Although once again, the advice here isn't going to be breaking news and alter the way that poker tournament players act at the time of the bubble player been set to be named, you need to once again look deeper into the method that is been suggested.

This boils down to the fact that larger stacked players at the table are going to go on the hunt to steal blinds and other smaller bets, regardless of the hand that they are holding due to the fear that a call from a higher ranked player within the tournament means that the lesser ranked player is behind.

Needless to say, being able to counter the action of blind stealing is going to further increase your chip stack, sometimes offering enough to help you jump through the remaining players to secure your safety, for a few more hands anyway.

Remembering that confrontational situations during this time of the tournament are very few and far between allows you to see just how much players are looking to break into the paying positions, so  you need to try to harness that fear and use this situation to your advantage.

Large bets that are played in this time are only going to be seen as bets that are designed to scare opponents out of a hand and such bets are going to attract the attention of players who are highly placed in the tournament and will mean that they are willing to make sure that you are been honest in your play, so avoid making oversized bets if you are unable to back them up.

Overall, there are a number of different ways that players try to conduct their play through this sector of the tournament but it's about finding the right method of play for you and sticking to it, altering your play too much while the bubble player is still to fall could well have a negative effect on your game and see you been given that very title.

Keep you strategy tight and remember about the pain of past experiences in tournaments where you have just missed out on the money, there is nothing more painful than spending hours playing a tournament just to crash out before you paid out for your efforts.

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