Explanation of Bubble
The bubble occurs when only a few players need to be eliminated
before the prize-pool is reached. Players⚾️ are especially reluctant to bust out of the
tournament during this period since they will go home with nothing. Getting⚾️ knocked out
during this stage of the tournament is referred to as being “bubbled” or
“bubbling”.
While “bubble” usually refers to⚾️ tournaments directly before anyone has
reached the prize pool, miniature bubbles can occur during big payout jumps in the
prize⚾️ structure. For example, if finishers between 61-80 receiveR$50 but finishers
between 41 and 60 receiveR$100, players will be reluctant to⚾️ bust out in 61st place. If
they can outlast one more player there is a significant jump in the prize⚾️ they will
receive.
It’s common on the bubble and before prizepool pay jumps to enter into hand
for hand play. (See⚾️ glossary entry under hand for hand for more information on this
topic.)
Example of Bubble used in a sentence -> The⚾️ larger stacks can get away with
stealing more aggressively on the bubble, because no-one wants to give them action
until⚾️ the bubble has passed.
How to Use Bubble as Part of Your Poker Strategy
Players
with bigger stacks are often at an⚾️ advantage during bubble play. The shorter stacks are
often looking to play conservatively and avoid committing their stack where possible.
⚾️ It’s a natural reaction for players to try and “hang in there” until the next pay jump
or reaching the⚾️ money after the bubble breaks. It’s also actually correct for them to
do this in many cases due to ICM⚾️ (independent chip model) considerations. Being forced
to play tight ranges as a result of specific stack depths is described as⚾️ “being under
ICM pressure”. Bigger stacks can aggressively target shorter stacks since they don’t
need to fear getting knocked out⚾️ of the tournament.
Shorter stacks may sometimes need
to pass up on plays which would technically carry a positive expectation in⚾️ terms of
chip amounts but would technically be losing plays in terms of real monetary values due
to ICM pressure.⚾️ See the glossary entry under ICM for more information on this
topic.
See Also
