hi, i was wondering if i could get any advice on playing the final two tables of a multi table tournament.

I have won 2 multi's with a handfull of top 5's. the tournaments have definatley been my best source of income. but latley i keep getting knocked out on the 2nd last table. in fact i would say i finish within 5 spots of the bubble about 50% of the time. The early stages are usually a snooze, but i find it very hard when it gets down to two tables. i generally play pretty tight, try to avoid calling with marginal hands pre flop, and i usually go all in on my good hands to try and steal enough blinds to stay alive.

does anyone else have this problem, or have you had it in the past, what are some commone error's that you have seen in this situation,

thanks for any advice.

marginal hands cheap are the money makers: http://www.pokerforums.org/general-poker-discussion/2472-different-tourny-style.html

Build a bigger stack early, so you can cruise through the early pay spots, thats probably the majority of your problem, being shortstacked late from bweing blinded away.

I agree with marm, I usually try to win a few big hands early on and then I can sit back and wait for the better hands. I play pretty tight as well but you want people in hands with you or your not going to make any money, so I would work on your betting. Going all in just to steal the blinds is a bad idea, eventually someone will call you and will either have a better hand or will suck out on you.

Cambece

Here's a big mistake that at times I still struggle with: When I've got a nice sized stack, staying away from pots that have big stacks.

Recently I was the big stack near the end of a big tourey (50 out of over 1100), I had about 6 times the average chip stack, but immediately to my right was a stack that had about 10 times the average chip stack. I'm cruising along, snapping off the small stacks like twigs, and then pick up AQs. He raises, I think for a moment "Is this the hand I'm going broke with?", then reraise in position to isolate him. Yes, he had AK, and we all know where this goes . . . jason busts out by breaking the cardinal rule: When you're a big stack, pick on the average stacks, not the big ones.

Should have folded the AQ every day of the week, and twice on sunday against the larger stack coming in for a raise. Don't go at stacks that can break you unless you have a monster.