Bubble
The bubble is the point in a tournament where the next player to be eliminated gets nothing.
The simple explanation
The bubble is the point in a tournament where the next player to be eliminated gets nothing, while everyone who survives that elimination receives a prize. If the tournament pays 100 players and 101 remain, the tournament is on the bubble. The player who goes out in 101st place is said to have bubbled.
A closer look
The bubble is a key moment because the payout jumps from zero to the minimum prize. Short stacks fold hands they would normally play, afraid of busting, and big stacks apply pressure and raise more. Tournament calculators such as ICM show that survival is worth more than chips at this stage. Players choose between playing tight to make the money and attacking those who do.
A practical example
A tournament pays 9 players. With 10 left, the next player out finishes tenth and wins nothing, so the tournament is on the bubble.
Full explanation
The bubble is the point in a tournament where the next player to be eliminated gets nothing.
The bubble is the stage of a tournament at which the next player eliminated will fall just short of a payout. In a tournament that pays 100 places, the bubble is 101st place.
It is a critical phase. Everyone who survives wins at least the minimum prize, so players become cautious, and some play to survive rather than to win chips.
Big stacks use the situation to steal blinds and put pressure on medium and short stacks. A short stack that folds too much may lose its chances to recover.
In some events the bubble is played hand-for-hand, so that no table finishes ahead of the others.
Four players remain; three places pay
No-limit Hold’em · Blinds 1/2 chips · No rake
Four players remain and three places pay. This is the bubble: the next player eliminated gets no prize. The payout boundary exists before anyone acts in this hand.
Read the example transcript
- Preflop · Pot: 3 chips
Four players remain and three places pay. This is the bubble: the next player eliminated gets no prize. The payout boundary exists before anyone acts in this hand.
- Player A BTN AAce of clubs (Ac)QQueen of diamonds (Qd) · Stack 200 · In this round 0
- Player B SB KKing of hearts (Kh)JJack of diamonds (Jd) · Stack 39 · In this round 1
- Player C BB 99 of clubs (9c)99 of hearts (9h) · Stack 18 · In this round 2
- Player D CO 77 of hearts (7h)66 of hearts (6h) · Stack 100 · In this round 0
Cards are shown for learning; totals are displayed before pot collection.