final table

[nelomec]

I recently reached the final table of a ggpoker tournament, after a while, haha. I noticed that after the bubble it gets even harder; most players play without strategy, going all-in a lot with any cards, and the blinds often don't help either. Has anyone reached the final table of a paid tournament, and what was your experience like?

 

[veryluckyfish7k]

if it is turbo pko so hard on bubble cause of pressure from chip leaders or agressive players and blinds going up too fast so if u short on the bubble it is lottery time i think in pko with for example 10 mins structure you can wait longer and chances to be on Final table more that in turbo pko's.

 

[sibkaz]

You'll get ten more times, and then it'll be easier)

 

[fundiver199]

There is a phenomemon called the "post bubble bustout bonanza", which describe the fact, everyone tries to make it into the money, and because of that many players become rather short. But then after the bubble has burst, there is little value in lasting an orbit or two more, so now players get much more willing to put their stack at risk. Which actually they should.

Moreover in a PKO there is always value in knocking someone out and winning their bounty. So its possible, you saw someone, who was "playing without strategy" or "going all-in a lot with any cards". But it could also be, that they were just playing good poker, and you are the one, who dont understand the correct strategy for this phase of a PKO.

Also its not at all difficult to play in a game with short stacks and loose players. You just go all-in yourself, when its profitable to do so, and then you live with the result. Maybe this is not your idea of "good poker" or "exciting poker", but if you want a lot of postflop play with deep stacks, then you should play cash games. And if you want to avoid some of the "wild gambling", then play regular MTTs rather than PKOs.

 

[frost234]

I don't think the players at the final table are playing without discretion. Maybe you thought so.

 

[fa1920]

What you are describing about players just going all-in preflop isn't necessarily a lack of strategy, but rather the reality of short-stack tournament poker. By the time you reach the final table, the average stack is often around 15 to 25 big blinds. At that shallow depth, post-flop play becomes very limited, and players are mathematically forced into a strict 'push/fold' strategy to survive the rising blinds and apply pressure.
I highly recommend looking into ICM (Independent Chip Model) and short-stack push/fold charts. Once you understand the math behind those wide shoves, you'll feel much more comfortable navigating those chaotic final stages

 

[Yontox]

Mind if I ask what the buyins were of this tournament you hit final table?

 

[frank174]

as the bubble gets near bigger stacks will start bulling smaller stacks,and smaller stacks are left with little options but to push all in or fold,
great time of trny unless your on the short stack

 

[kaynbergo]

I made it to the final table in $1 tournaments, and I wouldn't say playing there was much different from the final freeroll table. There are a few crazy gamers out there; they're looking for thrills, not poker, so I didn't notice any difference.