Late play tournaments

I am a pretty good player and I know how to run the table during the tournament but for some reason when I get late in the tournament like the bubble or close to it I get cracked by some retard with a small ace versus my kings or something like that. How do I avoid losing my position and busting on the bubble to really bad players? Should I raise hard pre with pocket pairs and good suited connectors like 78 and above? Should I cbet the flop when I don't hit and when I do? Should I call or reraise pre to 3 4 or 5 bets? What about a loose player that is betting every hand how do you take down THAT player? What about the calling stations that call everything to the river with even a small ace to hit it should I make em shove post?

Those are generally my questions... Someone help me out so I can make it further in tournaments. Busting like this deters me from wanting to continue to play tournies (which I love playing). Thanks for the time you have put into reading my post and have a nice day :-)

You ask a lot of questions but they are all situation/stacksize dependant. As for the KK losing to Ax, did it go in preflop, did you min raise then call an allin after an A hit the flop? If it went allin pre you should be happy about getting it in as a 70% favorite, if you lose ya it sucks but you really shouldn't care because you made the right play. Not sure I'd advocate 'raising hard pre' suited connectors like 78, it is a hand that likes to see flops but is a pretty bad starting hand.

When abusing the bubble, you need to be either betting to induce a jam, bet folding to resistance, or jamming yourself. Short stacks will likely either be folding or shoving so putting the pressure on can be quite profitable.

Should I call or reraise pre to 3 4 or 5 bets? Is that a real question? You need to give a scenario.

Playing the late stages of a tourney is the toughest part of the game. A big part of the difficulty is mental. Most people adopt the attitude that they have to cash and then worry about what happens later. Playing aggressive close to the bubble is a great time to build a stack.

I agree with Tom1559, everytime when you're close to the bubble, the most players use a verry tight strategy. But even if you know that, it's hard to play if you don't have a big stack... Personaly if I have a med. stack I usualy play almost every hand I get in cut-off / button. It is just my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Gronkh 94

I agree with Tom1559, everytime when you're close to the bubble, the most players use a verry tight strategy. But even if you know that, it's hard to play if you don't have a big stack... Personaly if I have a med. stack I usualy play almost every hand I get in cut-off / button. It is just my opinion.

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It's this point in the tourney when you have to decide whether you want to play for the cash, or play to take first. You should always play to win.

If you're going deep and losing (presumably PF) with KK you are doing something right - stick with it - variance is a bitch
Maybe you could try being more aggressive in the mid-stages of MTTs - you may not run deep in so many tournies, but when you do, you'll have a big stack later on when it really counts and be able to sustain a bad beat or 2.

I used to have this trouble myself .later stages of mtt tourney are when you really need to take notice of how they other players are playing what hands range they are playing esc only play big pocket pairs out of possistion otherwise unless your experianced you will just find yourself in sticky situations when in possistion you can widen your range never limp unless your late possistion and you have a hand like connectors an you can see a flop cheaply if you feel your being bullied start restealing i used to to start playing timid near the finale table an would always bubble it because I was way to passive improve your hand reading skills and when you think you have the best hand against lag or small stacks get super agg putting the pressure on them getting your chips in the middle with the odds on your side an ofcourse you will get bad beats but over time if you are up to par with your poker math witch is the most important thing you need to be a good poker player you will come out on top ..gl dude

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Originally Posted by AreYouCallin

I am a pretty good player and I know how to run the table during the tournament but for some reason when I get late in the tournament like the bubble or close to it I get cracked by some retard with a small ace versus my kings or something like that. How do I avoid losing my position and busting on the bubble to really bad players? Should I raise hard pre with pocket pairs and good suited connectors like 78 and above? Should I cbet the flop when I don't hit and when I do? Should I call or reraise pre to 3 4 or 5 bets? What about a loose player that is betting every hand how do you take down THAT player? What about the calling stations that call everything to the river with even a small ace to hit it should I make em shove post?

Those are generally my questions... Someone help me out so I can make it further in tournaments. Busting like this deters me from wanting to continue to play tournies (which I love playing). Thanks for the time you have put into reading my post and have a nice day :-)

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Questions are too broad & situationally dependent. You'd be much better off to post some hand histories & ask for analysis.