Squatting near the Bubble. Good? Bad? Annoying? Does not matter?

[StackSnack]

Squatting near the Bubble.

I am curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on near bubble, or bubble play. I myself like to just play threw but I know many use the "squat" technique.

I will add this topic has been touched on many times but I am just curious what the PO masses thoughts are on this subject in 2014....

Yesterday I bubbled out of three tourneys and it got me thinking. One of my bubble losses I finished 22nd in a 500 player field. I grinded the tourney for neary four hours only to lose two spots from ITM. I would have easily cashed if I would have just stepped aside until the bubble losses were over and was ITM.

Squatting has always carried a stigma of unsportsmanlike but maybe, just maybe, there is a place for it in online poker!

I am sure there are going to be strong opinions on this topic so I would ask that we try to keep it civil!

***I exclude Live poker as the variable dynamics are drastically in contrast to that of online poker.

[PokeYourFace]

in online poker use ANYTHING and i mean ANYTHING that is not cheating to get the edge

[potfan42o]

depends.. i love that answer, but its true. 1-depends on my bankroll if im in a position (good br) i love stealing the blinds at this point when most players tighten up. I attack the middle stacks. 2- says its my last $1 my goal is to cash, I will slow the game down and pull up other tables to watch the short stacks to see if they go all in, than try to get top 5 stack for the ft.

[rghy2]

I'm against it. I don't mind when others do it, but it doesn't add any benefit with my style. If I have a decent chip stack, I want more hands before the blinds go up to take advantage of my stack. If I'm short stack I want to see as many hands before the blinds go up so I can hopefully find a shove worthy hand. My goal is to build my stack, not min cash. And frankly, I believe I have a better chance at making the min cash if I play this way instead of letting my stack get desperately low, and obviously I will have a much better chance at a deep run.

I have had a couple exceptions to this rule, and that was basically when I was watching other tables and the shortest stacks were sitting out. In that case I would rather just wait for them to blind out and I will run the timer and play more conservatively, because a min cash is almost guaranteed at that point. I believe when someone wants to use this tactic, it's important to watch the other tables and see what's going on there.

My biggest pet peeve is when someone that stalls isn't paying attention and keeps stalling when we get hand for hand. That is freaking annoying. Any other time I don't mind when other players stall.

[EddieTorr]

Good thread and good advice so far: Don't go into squat mode automatically, but use it when the situation dictatese.

[Detroitjunky]

i do it - especially if your low stacked and no hope of winning - i just did in a freeroll and took 8 bucks - with 3 from bubble i had 2k and first had like 100k so it was worth it

[deestee]

Whatever it takes to get to the money if you ask me

[rs3rooster]

always take a prize even if its min.

[mawoyto]

The idea is to get into the money. If you are low stack that that's the best way to get there then its a fair strategy. Once in the money a lot can happen. I have noticed that in freerolls and low stakes tournaments as soon as players are in the money they get real loose. A lot of all-ins and calls. If you bide your time you find you have moved up a few notches on the payout chart without having to do much. That makes squatting worthwhile.

PS - There is usually some jackwagon at the table telling you to hurry up. Put him on mute and build your bankroll.

[AAallday]

I like to use this time to steal blinds while others are "Squatting" as typically my goal is to get into the final table with a healthy stack so I have a shot at top 3 and I find this will increase my odds of getting there.