Bubble trouble

In a poker tournament, being on the bubble means that you're one elimination away from making the money (i.e., receiving winnings). In the sit and go tournaments I've been playing, there are seats for six players, but only two players make the money. Therefore, when the field has been reduced to three players, all of you are on the bubble. People's playing styles can change radically when they're on the bubble. Some people play too cautiously, hoping against hope they'll make the money. Others play too aggressively, and hit the felt when they get called and their cards come up short.

Last night, I was on the bubble in both tournaments I entered, and ending up placing third in both. Combined with my final tournament of the night before, I've bubbled three straight tournaments and come in third all three times. That's bubble trouble! Sometimes, there's not much you can do to avoid placing third. For example, if you're severely short-stacked when three-handed play begins, you'll need a bunch of luck to make the money. That's the situation I was facing in last night's second tournament. In last night's first tournament, however, I had the chip lead when three-handed play began. The mistake I made was that I didn't adjust my playing style at all; an aggressive style had brought me that far, and I continued to be aggressive. On hand 31, I was dealt a queen jack offsuit, and one of my opponents went all in preflop. I thought about it for a bit, and called. The opponent had a suited king ten, and ended up winning with a full house, tens full of aces. I lost $1,135 on the hand. On the very next hand, I was dealt a queen ten offsuit, saw a flop of 8h 4c 7h, and for some reason went all in with my queen high when the same opponent from the hand before bet $100 on the flop. I guess I was a little bit on tilt. A seven hit on the turn, and that's what did me in, even though a ten hit on the river.  My two pair of  tens and sevens lost to three of a kind, sevens, and I was out of the money once more.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 80000      1000           6        32     3        0
 50000       800           6        48     3        0

delta:  $-131,800
balance: $5,281,536