I Busted Out on the Bubble

One of the most discouraging things that can happen to a tournament player is busting out on the bubble. John, a tournament player who experienced the agony of defeat only one place short of a payday, e-mailed me to ask my opinion of his play. "I recently played in a no-limit hold'em tournament that paid the top 10 players," he began. "I busted out on the bubble in 11th place." Having been there, done that, I was hooked on what John had to say next.

"Here's what happened on my final hand," he continued. "The blinds were $500-$1,000 with a $150 ante. I had $46,000 in chips, and was probably in third or fourth chip position at that point. The player under the gun (in first position) had about $50,000 and made it $5,000 to go. He had just joined our table a couple of hands before this one and hadn't shown a hand yet, so I didn't have a read on how he played.

"Everyone folded to me. I was in middle position with pocket tens. I reraised $15,000. Everyone folded to the original raiser. He went all in and I called. He flipped over pocket kings, and I lost the hand. What do you think about my all-in call with pocket tens at that point in the tournament?"

Although I could feel John's pain, I decided not to mince words. John, I replied, I think your call was horrible. Why? Because you risked going broke, and did, in a situation in which you were either a big underdog or a small favorite. You could have folded and still had more than $30,000 left, in which case you probably would have made the money table for sure.

Under-the-gun raisers in a full game deserve respect. In fact, you could make a good case for folding your tens before the flop and not getting involved in the hand in the first place. Once you decided to test the water by reraising, you should have folded everything except aces or kings when the original raiser moved in on you. Live and learn, and better luck next time. Or, as a buddy of mine always says, "Live, learn, and earn."

My writing partner, T.J. Cloutier, has made some astute comments about playing hands in tricky tournament situations. He says, "In tournament poker, pot odds isn't always the most important factor in deciding whether to play a hand. You should take the math into consideration, yes, but if that's all you're thinking about – and you forget about the fact that if you don't win the pot, you will either be out of the tournament or will take a big hit to your stack – you are putting too much importance on it. Your thinking in critical tournament situations has to be different from how you think in a side game."

When you know that you're only one out of the money in a tournament, you have a tendency to get nervous. T.J. also says, "When people get nervous, they start making mistakes. No-limit hold'em is a game of mistakes. If you aren't making mistakes, they aren't going to win. All top players not only make fewer mistakes, they also capitalize on other people's mistakes. If you don't play perfect poker (or don't get extremely lucky) against top players, they will beat you. None of the top players think of themselves as being lucky; if anything, they think of themselves as being unlucky."

You have to be very flexible as situations arise while you are going through the stages of a tournament. And when you're down to the last few players, it's especially important. So, John, the next time you're one out of the money, slow down long enough to think things through, keeping in mind that winning or losing just one hand near the end can mean winning or losing the whole enchilada.

If we can avoid making mistakes while capitalizing on the mistakes of our opponents, I'm certain that we can get past the bubble and meet in the winner's circle one day soon.

Editor's note: No-Limit Texas Hold'em by Brad Daugherty and Tom McEvoy is available through Card Player, as is Championship No-Limit & Pot-Limit Hold'em. Visit www.cardplayer.com for a complete list of books by McEvoy, Daugherty, Cloutier, and Smith. You may e-mail your questions to McEvoy, Cloutier, and Daugherty at [email protected].