I Suck @ Poker

Crushing Double or Nothing Games
by Brady Lewis

Double or Nothing games are relatively new to the poker scene. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me give you a little explanation of what they are…

There are ten players all at the same table, all starting out with the same amount of chips. Easy enough so far, right? Well here’s the twist:The top 5 finishers all get the same amount of prize money, while the bottom 5 finishers get nothing. It’s a pretty simple concept.Whatever the buy-in cost is for the game, the top 5 finishers win double that amount. If you play a $5 game and make the top 5, you’ll win $10. Simple.

Why do I love them? They’re pretty easy to win most of the time. Since these games are somewhat new, most people aren’t that good at them. There’s plenty of room for you to take advantage of that.

So what’s the best way to tackle Double or Nothings? It’s really easy. Play good hands. Duh.

A Double or Nothing game, even more so than a Sit N Go, is all about survival. Don’t nickel and dime your entire stack away playing marginal hands. Wait for a really solid hand, and then make some money with it. You only need to hit a few good hands (seriously only a few) to get in the money in these games. If you double up one time, you can pretty much blind out the rest of the time and still cash.

I don’t know how many times I have been playing in a Double or Nothing game and the chip leader (unfortunately I have done this myself too) starts playing every hand, trying to build up a bigger stack, and then all of the sudden he is the short stack and out of the money. There’s no reason to try and have all of the chips in play. All they needed to do was just sit on their stack and wait to collect their money.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not necessarily saying to fold pocket A’s pre-flop or anything. I’m just saying don’t call a pre-flop raise when you’re the big stack and you have KT off suit.

Fortunately, a lot of people play terribly in these games, which make them quite easy to win. Most people do the opposite of what I’m telling you to do, so just kick back and let them throw away their stacks. Remember, you only need to outlast five people.
I prefer to play the low-limit Double of Nothing games at Pokerstars.