Tip #20: Another take on Double or Nothing Sit and Gos

Double up sit and go’s are a great way to build your bankroll with less effort than in normal sit n go’s. You just have to beat 50% of the field, so it is not a matter of winning but a matter of not losing. Playing tight aggressive is the only way to play double up sit and go’s.

What Hands To Play

In a double up sit and go you want to play very tight and let the loose players knock themselves out. With that being said, you need a strong hand selection and once you get these hands play them very aggressively to knock out any idiot still in the hand with you. Hands to play in any position: AA, KK, QQ. Hands to play on later positions: AK, AQ, JJ, TT, maybe AJ.

Problem hands

Problem hands are hands that look good but need some adjustments in DON tournaments. For example: AK, JJ and TT are hands that would be good to raise on normal SNGs, but are not that good in double up tourneys. The problem here is that players usually play tighter on DON, so these hands lose some value. If you raise and is called, do you c-bet on a high board? Because of these kind of doubts, some players even fold those hands while playing DONs.

What To Do During The Bubble

If you have been playing tight and aggressive, you should have a nice sized or average chip stack. This should allow you to fold most of your hands, sit back and watch other players trying to take each other out. By all means do not try to knock a player out with any cards you have in your hand because they are short stack and almost out. Don’t change your strategy, as you would on normal SNGs. The only reason to call an all-in with bad cards would be if you have a big stack and there are three or more players all-in in the hand with small-stacks.

Sit and Go Bankroll Management

It is very important to follow proper bankroll management. This is even more correct on double or nothing, since variance can be bigger than normal. To be on the safe side many players have a minimum of 40 buyins in their bankroll. For example, if you want to play the $10+$1 buyin sit and go’s you should have a minimum of $440 in your bankroll.

Rake and rakeback

Rake can also be a big issue on DONs. Prefer poker rooms that have at most 10% rake on each tournament. To reduce this problem, sign up to a good sit and go rakeback program and enjoy your extra profit.

Tip #12: Double of Nothing Strategy – Part 2

Double or Nothing Sit n Go’s Late Stages

In our previous article we went over the needed strategies necessary in order to survive and make it to the money playing Double or Nothing sit n go’s. The whole strategy simply revolves around you playing super tight and avoiding situations such as coin flips, being dominated with better kickers and just avoiding any form of aggression whatsoever.

By following this strategy most times often then not, you should find yourself in the last 6 to 7 players with only 2 more needed to bust out to make the money. This is where your strategy should shift slightly.

DON Late Stages

It is still important to note that you will want to be playing extremely tight. But at the same time, it will be necessary to pick good spots for blind steals, as the blinds will be pretty high in relation to your chip stack.

So with that in mind, you will want to be sure that you are picking fights with players who do not want any confrontation. These players are the ones who are sitting tight and will have medium to low chip stacks who figure they can squeak by not confronting anyone. These are the players that you will want to raise and try to get fold time after time. By doing this, you will be replenishing your stack from the ever revolving blinds.

This can be attempted against bigger stacks with some success as they will not want to risk doubling anyone up. However, they may be able to afford to take the risk so be sure to have something more solid when trying to raise these players.

The players that you will want to try to avoid are the short stacks. They are more likely to push with a much wider range and as we mentioned above, you still do not want to be in any coin flip situations. Leave that for the other players.

Short Stack

Now, if you happen to be the short stack at the table the strategy is pretty simple. SHOVE. And then shove some more. The only time that you will more than likely not shove pre-flop is if there is a raise in front of you are if you have utter garbage like J-4, 2-9 or 7-3. Everything else that is suited, connected or paired is worthy of having all of your chips put into the middle.

Aside from stealing blinds or in the case that you are short stacked and are shoving, you will just simply be folding everything else and just waiting for other players to bust each other in a race. If you are at an aggressive table, let the others do the work for you.

Double or Nothing Strategy Final Words

As easy as Double or Nothings may seem, especially if you are a sit n go regular, you are sure to find quickly that DON’s will take a slightly different approach when attempting to beat them. Above all, players will need to be sure that they are extremely patient and very selective in their hand requirements. Aside from that, just be sure to keep solid notes on your opponents so that at later stages you can pick and choose the right players to steal blinds from to keep your own stack afloat.

By following our Double or Nothing tips players are sure to find Double or Nothing sit n go’s much easier to play and quite profitable once you have the game and the structure down to a science.

Tip #11: Double of Nothing Strategy – Part 1

Double or Nothing SnG Strategy

Double or Nothing tournaments are a great change of pace from the standard grind of 9 man sit n go’s. Not only that, but they are great for grinding out bankrolls simply because half the field will receive double their buy-in disregarding any need for accumulating lots of chips in the beginning.

However, for those of you sit n go pros that think you are just going to sit down and apply the same strategies that you do for sit n go’s and think you will be ok, well, think again. Double or Nothing sit n go’s are not identical and will require a little bit different strategy to be beaten.

Over the next couple of articles, we will provide you with the strategies necessary in order to master the DON’s so that you can grind out a solid bankroll.

Double or Nothing Beginning Stages

Since half the field will win double their buy-in, it really does not matter if you have $5k in chips or $1. As long as you make it into the top 5, you will be paid. In other words, there is no reason to be overly crazy or aggressive.

So with that in mind, it is important to keep the ‘tight is right’ mindset when first getting started. That means playing the top 10% hands or less and folding everything else. So for example, if you are dealt K-J while on the cut off and someone has limped in front of you, fold. Actually in fact, even if no one has limped in, this hand really is not worth getting into any trouble with so fold anyway. Just stick to premium pairs and only play high pairs when in position.

Additionally, all players should keep the gap concept in mind which states that you need a stronger hand to call a raise then if you were to make the first raise yourself. This should help prevent players from getting into sticky spots with hands such as A-Q, A-J and so forth. In other words, if there is a raise in front of you, fold unless you have AA, KK or QQ.

Another thing that players will want to avoid is trying to steal blinds at the early stages. At this point, they are not worth much and definitely not worth risking your stack and busting out over.

The bottom line is, is that at the early stages of the Double or Nothing sit n go’s, you should be folding literally 95% of your hands and allowing the other inexperienced players to take each other out. Avoid all risks, races and uncertain situations. This will ensure that you last long enough to get down to the last 6 or 7 players and where you will have to focus on bubble play.

Lastly, since you are folding every hand, you have plenty of time to figure out who has the right strategy down and whom the donkeys are. Knowing who the good players are will prove to be useful when you get down to playing on the bubble. Be sure to take notes.

Double or Nothing Strategies summary – while Double or Nothing sit n go’s may seem like your generic sit n go, the biggest difference between the two is that there is almost no reason to attempt to collect chips in a DON unless you have the nuts because the rewards just do not out weight the risks. Just sit back and play tight ABC poker and getting to the bubble should be the easiest part of playing Double or Nothing sit n go’s.

Tip #7: Double or Nothing SNGs: the essential tip

It’s all about finishing in the money. Avoid taking unnecessary risks.

Many players think the difference between payments of a regular SnG of 50%/30%/20% to the top 3 players and a Double or Nothing Sit and Go (DoN SnG) isn’t that big of a deal. But this belief could be very expensive. While it is usually correct to play for first place in a regular SitnGo, the DoNs need a whole other strategy.

Double or Nothing Sit and Gos can be seen as qualification tournaments, meaning that there are a certain number of places that win the same prize. For example a satellite tournament for the World Series of Poker: Let’s say 1000 Players started the satellite and the best 5 of them will win a ticket worth $10.000. In this case it is figuratively unimportant if you finish in 6th or 990th place – either way you leave empty-handed. On the other side it is totally irrelevant if you finish among the top 5 players with 400 or 100k in Chips – the prize will be the same.

And that’s exactly how it works with DoN SnGs. The gap between a prize and none is the maximum. Either you win or you don’t – there is nothing in between.

This mean you have to adapt to these circumstances. Avoid any risks at the bubble. The bubble is this time during a tournament where the last players has to exit while all the others make the money. At this time it really is double or nothing for you.

If you have a big stack at the bubble, try to avoid other big stacks. Dodge them purposely to not risk your tournament life. Here is the reason behind that: As a big stack your chances are pretty rosy to reach the money. You would ruin this chance completely if you tangle with another big stack. You want to put pressure on the small stack that hardly can hurt you.

As a small stack you have two options: If your opponents are doing a lot of raising and fighting with each other, fold anything but premium holding and pray for someone to exit before you. If play is passive you can be the one giving action by stealing some pots and building your stack gradually. If possible, avoid raising if there is someone with a huge stack after you, unless you have a really good starting hand.

We will discuss Double or Nothing SNGs in other tips, but don’t forget this first one: It’s all about finishing in the money. Avoid unnecessary risks.