Gambling terms, explained straight

Poker

Poker bubble

In a poker tournament, the bubble is the cutoff point just before the prize money starts, where the last eliminated player walks away with nothing.

Applies to
Poker tournaments, especially prize-payout stages12
Meaning
The bubble player is the last one eliminated before any prize money is awarded1
Transition point
Marks the boundary between non-paying and paying places1

Key points

  • The bubble marks the transition between non-paying and paying places in a tournament1.
  • A player finishing in the bubble position receives no prize money, despite being one spot away from cashing1.
  • The term is specific to poker tournaments and does not apply to cash games1.

Where this term is used

Not the same as

Poker Poker hands Explains the ranking of hands used in poker games. Poker Omaha poker A community card poker variant where players use two of four hole cards. Poker Flush poker Describes the flush hand and its place in poker hand rankings. Poker Quads poker Explains four of a kind, a strong hand in poker. Poker Poker hand rankings Lists all standard poker hands from highest to lowest. Poker Poker hands chart preflop A poker hands chart preflop is a 13×13 grid

Sources

  1. Glossary of poker terms - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Used for the definition of the bubble and how it works in tournaments.
  2. Bubble - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Supports that the bubble applies to prize-payout stages.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.