Issues with bubble play

I am always really good untill before bubble. Why is it that i always lose before bubble or right after bubble? does the strategy change? do yi have to play more aggresive or passive?

Yes, the strategy changes near the bubble.

Many players get too scared and play very tight just to cash. That's usually a mistake. If you have chips, you can often play a bit more aggressively and steal blinds.

If you're busting before or just after the bubble a lot, you might be:

- Playing too tight before the bubble.
- Taking risky spots with a short stack.
- Not adjusting to other players' fear.

Try to stay focused on making good decisions, not just making the money. Final tables come from building a stack, not just surviving.

1 What is your stack size at bubble? If you are busting big stacks you want to dive deep into the why?
2 What are the table dynamics of you bubble tables. Do you have a skill edge? As we get deeper into MTT play the players might be condensed to better players.
3 If the players are better we cannot keep playing like they are over playing their range.

Let me share an observation: in bubble games, players with slightly above average stacks often try to steal chips from players with short stacks without noticing when the latter raises. After all, when would a player who's confidently in the prize zone but have a smaller stack than you actually raise? This usually happens only with strong hands — real monsters. As a result, a player trying to steal chips ends up with a tiny stack. You have to be smart when it comes to stolen chips.

You’re probably not playing bad, you’re just not adjusting enough when the tournament shifts gears:

• Don’t overfold strong playable hands just because the bubble is close
• Attack medium stacks who are scared of busting
• Apply pressure as a big stack
• Survive as a short stack
• Avoid hero calls

If you often bust just before the money (bubble), it could be a sign, that you are taking to many risks in this phase of the tournament. However per definition this should mean, you reach the money with a larger stack on average, and then you should not also bust to often in the post-bubble phase. So I think, this is most likely a case of focusing on a meaningless small sample, where you just happened to have many bustouts in this particular part of the tournament.

If you are relatively new to the game, I will advice you to forget about such macro factors for now and instead focus on playing each hand as well as possible. Rather than asking "what should I do on the bubble", its better to ask questions like "how should I play top pair medium kicker in a multiway pot". Its not, that bubble play require no adjustments, but its difficult to adjust well, if you have no idea, what you are adjusting from.

So get your baseline set first. A great way of doing this is to review hands after a session, and if you find some, where you are really not sure, if you played them well, then share them to the tournament hand analysis section. There are some long time winning tournament players in this forum, and we are happy to help new members, who take the time and effort to share hands.

Another tip: make use of the time cards when you are in the bubble, as it will take a while and will allow time for other more drowsy players to fall.

Be aggressive when you have the chips to pressure others, but respect the immediate post-bubble chaos by letting the short stacks bust themselves first.