Bubble Play

[Grier78]

I always try and get my chips in before I go below 6 big blinds to make sure that I have at least some fold equity and a meaningful stack if I double up. However, what about if you are on the bubble and you have just lost a big hand leaving you with only 2.5 BB and you are immediately on the BB do you call with any two or do you try and limp into the money by folding?

This situation happened to me last weekend in a £10 re-buy, 11 players left 10 paid. I did not make any re-buys or take the add-on, the minimum prize was £110. Would the ratio of my buy-in to the prize alter my decision? Most other players only had between 3 and 8 BB's does this make any difference to the decision?

Any comments welcome.

[DUNK619]

out f interest why didnt you take the add on

[Grier78]

out f interest why didnt you take the add on

Huge stack at the end of the rebuy period meant that I would have doubled my buy-in for a small increase to my stack, if I had made at least one rebuy then I would have probably taken an add-on.

[Royal Flush]

Forget this situation for the minute, you seem to have a very peculiar way of looking at rebuy tournaments that is probably costing you more money than this rather unique situation.

[boldie]

Forget this situation for the minute, you seem to have a very peculiar way of looking at rebuy tournaments that is probably costing you more money than this rather unique situation.

+1. Always take the add-on if the add-on amounts to a decent number of BBs...always, always, always.

I always try and get my chips in before I go below 6 big blinds to make sure that I have at least some fold equity and a meaningful stack if I double up

This is also something you should look at in my opinion.


and finally...please start playing for the win, rather than limp into the money..short term it might hurt a bit (as you might miss out of the occasional £110 cash) but in the long run it will make you money.

[TheChipPrince]

+1. Always take the add-on if the add-on amounts to a decent number of BBs...always, always, always.

I disagree slightly, if i have 35k and the add-on is 2k i cant say i'd always always bother...  There must be a add-on - stack ratio where you wouldn't?

[Moskvich]

I'd say yes, you should call with any two - if most people have 3-8 bbs then a double-up puts you right back in it. If everyone else had 20-30 bbs and the blinds weren't going up soon then maybe you could make a case for folding until the bb comes round again and puts you all in, since a double-up doesn't help you all that much and it's likely that two other players will collide while you're folding. And if you survive when in the bb next time then that gives you another round. I can't see that it's a good idea in anything other than exceptional circumstances though.

Ratio of your buy-in to the prizes shouldn't make any difference at all to your thinking - doesn't matter if you're in for ten quid or 100 quid, it's gone now and has no bearing on your equity in the tournament.

I always try and get my chips in before I go below 6 big blinds to make sure that I have at least some fold equity and a meaningful stack if I double up

This is also something you should look at in my opinion.

Don't understand this comment Boldie - are you just saying he should get it in earlier, with more bbs?

[boldie]

+1. Always take the add-on if the add-on amounts to a decent number of BBs...always, always, always.

I disagree slightly, if i have 35k and the add-on is 2k i cant say i'd always always bother...  There must be a add-on - stack ratio where you wouldn't?

For me it's a BB-add-on ratio that matters. I always take it if there is a decent number of BBs i get (ussually an add-on is 10+ BBs in which case I take it) I undestand that if you have 5 times the amount of chips everybody else has (slight exaggeration on my part) there might not be an awful lot of value but in that case i consider those BBs my "messy chips"..I use them to screw with people and treat them as spewies.

[boldie]

I'd say yes, you should call with any two - if most people have 3-8 bbs then a double-up puts you right back in it. If everyone else had 20-30 bbs and the blinds weren't going up soon then maybe you could make a case for folding until the bb comes round again and puts you all in, since a double-up doesn't help you all that much and it's likely that two other players will collide while you're folding. And if you survive when in the bb next time then that gives you another round. I can't see that it's a good idea in anything other than exceptional circumstances though.

Ratio of your buy-in to the prizes shouldn't make any difference at all to your thinking - doesn't matter if you're in for ten quid or 100 quid, it's gone now and has no bearing on your equity in the tournament.

I always try and get my chips in before I go below 6 big blinds to make sure that I have at least some fold equity and a meaningful stack if I double up

This is also something you should look at in my opinion.

Don't understand this comment Boldie - are you just saying he should get it in earlier, with more bbs?

yeah that's what I meant. 6 BBs is not enough to work with, and also thinking that 12BBs is a meaningful stack is a problem. I appreciate most casino rebuys turn very crap shooty at this stage so 6BBs can compare favourably to some people on the table but you're still in a world of trouble. 12 BBs can look like a chip mountain compared to someone folding their way to a 3BB stack (and you always have those guys at the table)  but even then I would be very busy.

[Grier78]

Forget this situation for the minute, you seem to have a very peculiar way of looking at rebuy tournaments that is probably costing you more money than this rather unique situation.

+1. Always take the add-on if the add-on amounts to a decent number of BBs...always, always, always.

I agree I will normally always take the add-on and in this case I probably should have done and used them to gamble a bit.

I always try and get my chips in before I go below 6 big blinds to make sure that I have at least some fold equity and a meaningful stack if I double up

This is also something you should look at in my opinion.

I had about 14 BB when I found KK under the gun and lost to a 11.5 BB stack who had AQ, so I suddenly found myself on the BB with only 2.5 BB back.

and finally...please start playing for the win, rather than limp into the money..short term it might hurt a bit (as you might miss out of the occasional £110 cash) but in the long run it will make you money.

I decided to call the incoming raise blind as it felt like the right thing to do at the time but then started to doubt whether I had done the right thing. Fortunately I had exchanged 10% with the player who ended up coming 2nd so there is a happy ending.

Thanks for all your thoughts, I appreciate it.