泡沫

Bubble refers to the stage in a tournament where only one player remains to be eliminated before the money (paying positions). At this point, all remaining players are close to receiving a payout but have not yet officially entered the money. The core implication is that the eliminated player will get nothing, while the survivors will at least receive the minimum prize. In practice, bubble strategy changes significantly — short-stacked players tend to be conservative, avoiding risky eliminations; big-stacked players may exploit opponents' fear by frequent raises and pressure to accumulate chips. Understanding bubble dynamics is crucial to tournament profitability because it directly affects risk preferences and opponents' behavior patterns.