I am currently reading "Elements Of Poker" by Tommy Angelo and in a section of this book he alludes to bubble play which reminded me of this post from a few weeks ago.

First of all what I meant when I said I "Bubbled" was that I missed the money by one. (ie. tourney pays 15 players I come 16th). Tommy disagrees with this view and says the bubble could actually start earlier (in this case maybe five spots before the payouts begin). Do you take the bubble as the exact changeover from losers to winners or agree with Angelo?

He also says it is more important to reach the bubble than the final table (for the obvious reason that you need to go through the bubble to get to the FT.)

Thoughts?

It's not usually the exact bubble that matters. Players tend tighten up near the bubble. The more places pay, the farther from the exact bubble play will tend to tighten up (at least in non-micro MTTs). It also depends on how many players are short and how short they are. If noone's short, then it's not going to change as much until closer to the bubble.

I agree that it's more important to reach the bubble. One point I kept trying to make in another thread, is that there is now no separation between bubble and FT in the mid-stakes MTTs. This changes the dynamics appreciably, at least to me.

I think it would be a huge mistake to fold that AA56, huge mistake on the the bubble.

As long as you are having little trouble winning some tourneys, bubbling shouldn't matter. If you find yourself finishing 3rd-7th a lot, then min chashing becomes more important. It just depends on your distribution.

I've played one tournament in my life (and that was a LHE sng), so take this advice for what it's worth.

But it seems to me, that the exact payout structure is critical here. Maybe ICM already takes that into account, I don't know. I don't even know what ICM stands for. But if you have a very flat payout structure, bubbling is hugely terrible. If you have a very top heavy payout structure, bubbling is inconsequential.

You had someone spike the only card that hurts you. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to get your $ in a situation where you are going to be heads up with a chance to double up if the 3 doesn't come. It did. Oh well. Screw waiting 8 hands to where you end up going all in with 34KQ or being blinded all-in. You're short stacked. Get it in and pray. Tough one.

And its always better to go for the win. Every tournament you play, you should go for the win.

OP,

you should be much more concerned about the 377K hand (preflop and flop calls are very bad) than about bubble tactics...