bubble boy

[zayzoo]

i have gotten bubble boy a few times. i dont know what feels worse. last before the money or making the money and losing to a bad beat.. either way a lost is a lost. i still have a hard time adjusting sometimes when i buy in and get bubble boy. like on bovada, i bought in $40.00 tourney and lasted right before the money . AK vs AQ . guess who won .AQ .. sick and wrong.

[TheHaversham]

Just my two cents, but to consistently be bubbling tournaments is definitely not good. I can remember a time when I was stuck in a bubble rut, so I can relate, but it was simply a bridge in my game that I had to pass over to learn what was on the other side.

Of course, there are different ways to bubble, but when it becomes a pattern it is usually one of two things, IMO: 1) you've played too tightly for too long - the solid in the field have changed to a higher gear, you maintained speed. Now, you get to the bubble stage, and have no play options besides shove or fold. You hang on, stall, whatever, to try to at least min-cash. Or 2) you've built a playable bubble stack, can even be wielding it well, but one or two beats cripples you and you make a desperation shove or something. At any rate, you are playing too loosely or too aggressively against the wrong stacks.

Do the math...start loosening up sooner and ramping up the aggression sooner. Tournament poker payouts are top-heavy, meaning that when the bubble bursts you're going to want chips to play with. You generally will bust out early the first few as you get the feel, then you'll see a sudden increase in final table appearances, which will lead, hopefully, to the next bridge, and then consistent top 3 finishes.

You trade your consistent bubbles and min-cashes for a win, and you'll quickly see the value. One win is generally >10x one min-cash, so you only need to win one in ten to match the same results you are getting now. Smart players quickly do much better than that.

Practice in freerolls, and ignore the bubble completely, simply focus on keeping yourself above 25-30BBs...it doesn't mean you have to be a shove-monkey, simply that you start getting trigger-happy well before all the Harringbots look up to realize they only have 10BB left. By then, you'll be long gone (and crushing dreams elsewhere) or sitting on a stack that gives you many more late-game options.

[mikey4141]

There is nothing worse then being the Bubble Boy!

[NineBirds]

yep, thats poker. take your bad beats and move on