Small Ball Taking Over
As we get closer to the bubble, bets and raises are shrinking in size. Many players have adopted a "small ball" strategy, not wanting to wind up bubbling the biggest poker tournament in the world.
The stacks are big at Peter Jetten's table and caution is definitely ruling the day. Two recent hands reflect that fact. in the first, Hasan Habib raised to 10,500 pre-flop and was called by Brandon Cantu on the button and Jetten in the blinds. Habib's bet of 18,500 on a flop of ended the hand.
A short while later, Jetten raised pre-flop to 11,000 and was called by the big blind. Both players checked an ace-high flop, . The big blind also checked a board-pairing on the turn, then called a bet of 16,000 from Jetten. After the river came , both players checked again. The big blind showed , aces and tens, to claim the pot.