Saturday, August 20, 2005
Bubbling Under
I knew there was something I wanted to mention from the PLO8 tournament, I had forgotten it till now. Obviously in PLO8 it's harder to knock people out with the split pots. Which is the same for everyone, in fact it's better for those of us who know that a good two-way hand is a better bet than A234 or AKQJ when you're short-stacked. Anyway, this made for a couple of extended bubble periods in this tournament.
First of all with three tables left, 11th-20th paid $38 and needless to say there were quite a few people so desperate for $38 they were happy to give up any chance of $1000 to get it. All well and good until we reached the "second bubble", 11 runners, allowing me at least half an hour of profitable thievery. But why ? 11th was the same $38. 10th was about $75, 9th $110, 8th $150 and all the way up to at least 5th in pretty much even steps. There is basically no difference in the forthcoming payouts whether you are 11th, 10th or 9th. You get another $40 for each step up the ladder.
At this point I want to forestall any asinine comments about "doubling your money". Pretend I'm Jim Bowen. 11-handed, you've got $38, we can't take that away from you (or is it Bruce Forsyth ?). If you outlast another player, you win another $38. Two players, $75. And so on. Now we're 10-handed. You've got $75, we can't take that away from you - everything else is exactly the same !
And yet, 11-handed half the field rocks up, 10-handed the same half go all demob-happy and are splashing it around like monopoly money. "Me on bubble me play tight" is about all their brains can manage I think. If you're in a situation where lasting one more place earns you more money, but the next 3/5/10 however many places are all the same, that's a bubble. If each successive place is more money, that isn't.
First of all with three tables left, 11th-20th paid $38 and needless to say there were quite a few people so desperate for $38 they were happy to give up any chance of $1000 to get it. All well and good until we reached the "second bubble", 11 runners, allowing me at least half an hour of profitable thievery. But why ? 11th was the same $38. 10th was about $75, 9th $110, 8th $150 and all the way up to at least 5th in pretty much even steps. There is basically no difference in the forthcoming payouts whether you are 11th, 10th or 9th. You get another $40 for each step up the ladder.
At this point I want to forestall any asinine comments about "doubling your money". Pretend I'm Jim Bowen. 11-handed, you've got $38, we can't take that away from you (or is it Bruce Forsyth ?). If you outlast another player, you win another $38. Two players, $75. And so on. Now we're 10-handed. You've got $75, we can't take that away from you - everything else is exactly the same !
And yet, 11-handed half the field rocks up, 10-handed the same half go all demob-happy and are splashing it around like monopoly money. "Me on bubble me play tight" is about all their brains can manage I think. If you're in a situation where lasting one more place earns you more money, but the next 3/5/10 however many places are all the same, that's a bubble. If each successive place is more money, that isn't.
# posted by Andy_Ward @ 9:55 PM 
