When the bubble is coming around in multi-table tournaments you have to make a decision. You must decide whether you want to try to build up your stack to go for the win or if you want to protect your stack to just make the money. Of course the big money lies in the first place and final table prizes, but for some players just cashing is enough if the cash represents a big portion of their bankroll.

If you have a short stack you will often want to throw in the towel on winning the entire tournament and just try to protect your stack to make the money. You will want to play very tight and only push in from good situations if you feel you will need the chips to cash. For example if there are in 49th of 55 players and the top 50 cash, you will probably need to push a few times to stay in the money. You should push from good positions such as from the small blind when the hand has been folded to you or of course when you hold a monster hand like aces or kings. If you need to push on someone you should try to attack the tight players who have shown they are just trying to make the money at this point. When you’re the short stack you should often just try to make the money and then start shoving in whenever you get the chance. Who knows, a few double ups after the bubble and you are right back in the thick of things.

If you have one of the larger stacks near the bubble this is often a good time to steal blinds and build your stack. You should play on shorter stacks fear of not making the money and raise their blinds with almost every hand. The blinds are getting very large at this point so picking them up will definitely help your chances of running deep into the tournament. You can even make relatively small raises of a little bit more than the minimum raise and these will still often take down the blinds because players don’t want to risk even this amount of chips. Even if they do make the call they will often fold to your continuation bet on the flop if they missed or even if they make bottom or middle pair. Your opponents will not want to risk their entire stack after they have invested this much time and are this close to a profit. Small raises and bets are the best way to build your stack in this situation because these bets will often take down the pot and they don’t risk very much of your stack if you happen to come up against a big raise.

The real decision as to how you should play comes when you have a medium stack at this stage of the tournament. You can easily fold your way into the money, so if cashing in the tournament is what really matters to you playing extremely tight may be your best bet. Personally, I like to at least maintain an average stack through this stage so that I have enough chips to make some moves later in the tournament. If your goal is to win the tournament, but you also don’t want to risk all of your chips you should make small raises from good positions to take down a few blinds from the short stacks. You obviously won’t be stealing as many blinds as the larger stacks, but this doesn’t mean you don’t deserve any. Just play fairly tight and then when you do make a raise the larger stack will likely respect it and let you have your turn stealing the short stack blinds.

Bubble play in a tournament really comes down to whether you want to ensure that you at least cash or whether you want to give yourself a chance to run deep into the tournament. When you are short stack ensuring that you cash is probably the best bet, whereas when you have a big stack you should try to build it to improve your chances of winning the entire tournament.

Other No-Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament Strategy:

Rebuy Tournament Strategy

Bounty Tournament Strategy

Final Table Strategy