I've lately come to realize that I finally care more about going deep and winning than I do about cashing and that has led to me being able to take more chances around the bubble when I think I'm in a good spot. Here are a couple of hands last night, 1 which takes place nearing the bubble, 1 not too long after the bubble.

Pre-bubble
1 - [Td] 10,049 after ante in MP1
Blinds 200/400 50 ante
I open for 1200 (8,849 behind). Folded to SB who calls (6,630 behind), BB folds
SB has been raising and playing too many hands. Rest of the table is pretty tight and seems fearful of the bubble.

[6c][5h] Pot 3200
SB bets 1500. Totally expected. Push, call, fold?


Post-bubble
2 - PT missed this one because the table closed right after the hand so this is mostly from memory.
Blinds 500/1000 125 ante
I am BB with xx. I have 16K after posting BB.
It's folded to SB who has me covered. SB raises to 3500.

What is my minimum requirement to push? Which hands, if any, do you just call with?

What is her minimum requirement to call?


Here's one more just to make me look bad and so everyone can call me a nit. We are down to 2 tables. Everyone is playing tight and nobody is going away. Most open-raises are taking it down.

We're 5-handed 2.5K/5K Blinds 600 ante.
I am UTG with 66 and 62K.
I raise to 20K. Button pushes for 42K.
One more person until the final table and jump in money almost doubles. There are still a couple of shorter stacks if I fold.

Hand 2 - My read at the time was that SB was solid. Didn't need a premium hand to raise here, capable of folding. If she was paying attention, my image should be TAGish.

Hand 3 - I believe I neglected to mention that we are 10 players. One more person before the final table where the money jumps from about $140 to $260. There are about 2 or 3 stacks shorter than the 42K I'd have if I fold.

Hand 1: 1 - [Td] 10,049 after ante in MP1
Blinds 200/400 50 ante
I open for 1200 (8,849 behind). Folded to SB who calls (6,630 behind), BB folds
SB has been raising and playing too many hands. Rest of the table is pretty tight and seems fearful of the bubble.

[6c][5h] Pot 3200
SB bets 1500. Totally expected. Push, call, fold?

H2T makes a good point about scare cards for him on the turn, but I already decided that I'm going to go broke with this hand vs this particular opponent so I just called to give him another chance to bluff on the turn if that's what he was doing. Marginal decision? Maybe, I'm not sure, but in this instance it worked perfectly because he caught just enough on the turn to justify calling a push way behind.

Pot 6200
SB bets 2000, I push, he insta-calls off 3130 more and shows [7c].
on the river

Post-bubble
2 - PT missed this one because the table closed right after the hand so this is mostly from memory.
Blinds 500/1000 125 ante
I am BB with xx. I have 16K after posting BB.
It's folded to SB who has me covered. SB raises to 3500.

What is my minimum requirement to push? Which hands, if any, do you just call with?

What is her minimum requirement to call?

My read at the time was that SB was solid. Didn't need a premium hand to raise here, capable of folding. If she was paying attention, my image should be TAGish.

What about KJo? That's what I pushed with. SB took a lot of time and called with either A7o or A8o. I got lucky and hit a J on the flop.

Here's one more just to make me look bad and so everyone can call me a nit. We are down to 2 tables. Everyone is playing tight and nobody is going away. Most open-raises are taking it down.

We're 5-handed 2.5K/5K Blinds 600 ante.
I am UTG with 66 and 62K.
I raise to 20K. Button pushes for 42K.
One more person until the final table and jump in money almost doubles. There are still a couple of shorter stacks if I fold.

This is where I expected to take ass-kicking from everyone, but I folded. 90% of the time I call here. I was getting about 3-1 odds which seemed just about right for me since everyone was playing tightly. I had to assume that my best chance was 2 overs, at least a big Ace, or a bigger pair which has me crushed. This is one of the few situations, for me, where pot odds will take a back seat. If I fold, I felt I had enough chips left to still make it to the final table with an big increase in money. Players weren't 3-betting lightly here. 66 is probably the highest pocket pair I would consider folding here.

I doubled up 1 round later in the BB with KTs. The button raised, I pushed and he had to call with a big stack and K4s.