Double or Nothing Strategy – SNG Poker Double Up

Double or Nothing Sit ‘n’ Goes (or SNGS) are a relatively new format in the online poker community. This presents an amazing opportunity for the astute players who are able to adapt to the new format by changing their regular SNG strategy to take into account the adjustments that this form of poker requires. In most forms of poker you have plenty of options regarding your play style: tight, loose, aggressive, etc. In a Double or Nothing SNG (DoN) however, there is almost always a correct play, and other options are clearly incorrect. This makes double or nothings (also called Double Up SNGs) easier to play correctly, even on multiple tables.

Because the payout structure of a Double or Nothing SNG is so different from a regular SNG, many players who move across to double or nothings play them incorrectly, which allows the players who understand correct double or nothing strategy to increase their ROI (Return on Investment).

The biggest error that inexperienced players will make in a double or nothing sit and go is to call off too lightly. In a 10 player Double or Nothing SNG, half of the players will win, and the other half will lose. This means that it doesn’t matter if you have a huge number of chips at the end of the game, because as long as you have some chips, you win. In a regular Sit ‘n’ Go the object is to accumulate all the chips and knock out every other player. In a double or nothing accumulating chips becomes less relevant, because you just need to outlast half the field.

Double or Nothing Strategy

The main differences in a Double or Nothing Poker SNG are as follows:

1. Try to avoid calling all-in for you entire stack. Even if you are a 70% favourite when you call, you may be a greater favourite to make the money if you fold.

2. Push all-in instead of raising once the blinds increase. This puts maximum pressure on your opponents, as they will want to avoid calling all-ins as well.

3. Your stack size is often more important than your cards, especially on the bubble. Pick on the players who have less chips than you, but more than the smallest stack. These are the players least likely to call (unless they are maniacs).

If you could plan the perfect run in a Double or Nothing, it would be to play the entire game without ever seeing a flop. Generally you don’t want people to call you when you are a only 50% chance to win, such as QJ vs 55. You don’t want them to call when you are a 60/40 favourite like 89 vs 56. Most of the time it’s best if they don’t even call when you are a 70% favourite, such as when you have pocket Jacks vs Ace-9. In bubble situations its usually best if they fold, even when you have pocket kings and they have pocket sevens, when you are an 80% favourite! By far the best result in a double or nothing SNG if for they to fold constantly.

Double or Nothing Poker Strategy

Let’s get into the specifics of Double or Nothing Poker Strategy. This type of SNG usually has 4 separate stages: Early Levels, Mid Levels, High Levels, and the Bubble. Optimal double or nothing strategy will change depending on which level you are currently at.

Double or Nothing Strategy – Early Levels

The early blinds section of a double or nothing SNG tends to be the first two levels. At these stages you will generally have between 50 and 75 big blinds. Tight play is the name of the game. Play only pairs and AK. Because of the payout structure, it isn’t really worth while calling raises with suited connectors, because losing chips is more of a hindrance than winning chips is an advantage. With small and medium pairs you can either min-raise yourself, or call small raises and try and hit a set and double up. If you miss, just let the hand go. You want to maintain as much of your stack as you can in the early levels, and only get chips in when you flop a monster.

With big hands such as AA and KK, make large raises and try to get all your chips in the middle. Don’t get tricky and don’t try and trap. Just raise big and re-raise until all the chips get in. If a player goes all in before you, go ahead and call their all-in with those hands. The early stages of a double or nothing SNG is just about maintaining your stack, and doubling up if you get a monster. Don’t bother going for incremental stack increases. All or nothing is the way to play during the early stages.

Double or Nothing Strategy – Mid Levels

The double or nothing strategy during the mid blind levels changes significantly. The blinds will start taking a significant chunk of your stack, and you will need to steal a few blinds just to stay where you are. Here are some strategy changes that you should keep in mind:

1. Flat calling raises becomes sub-optimal double or nothing strategy at these levels. If your hand is good, or if you believe your opponent is weak (based on previous information) re-raise all in. If you hand is bad, just fold.
2. Try to steal the blinds off the tight players at the table. Ideally, you don’t want to have to see a flop and the C-Bet. Raising when the tightest players are in the blinds is usually the best way to take down the pot without a showdown.
3. Avoid playing against opponents who have either very large stacks or very small stacks. The large stacks will be able to put pressure on you, while the small stacks may be looking for any opportunity to shove all-in. Pick on the players with stack sizes in between.

Double or Nothing Strategy – High blind Levels

Once the blinds get to 100/200 in a double or nothing SNG, selective aggression becomes vitally important. There are often only 7 or 8 players left at these levels, but in some games that are particularly tight there may still be a full table. If a hand is worth playing at these levels, it should be raised all-in. You’re only goal here should be to win the chips in the pot by making everyone else fold, and the best way to do that is to shove all your chips in the middle and put your opponents to tough decisions.

At these stages it is particularly important to understand the mentality of the players on your left. If they seem to be loose callers, they you are in a difficult situation. You will still need to be pushing all in when you are in late position with almost any reasonable hand, but you will need to tilt your range more towards high card hands and pairs.

If the players on your left are tight (perhaps because they understand correct Double or Nothing strategy) you can be particularly aggressive, perhaps even raising all in with any two cards. At these stages the average stack size is often less than 10 big blinds, so every blind steal you get away with is a significant increase to your stack size.

The stack size of your opponents becomes a major factor on when you can push all in at the high blind levels. If the players in the blinds are too short-stacked, they may be pot-committed, and call your shove. If they have a particularly large stack they will have nothing to fear, and may decide to call you off with hands that they would fold as a medium stack. Wherever possible, push all in when the players in the blinds have average stack sizes. You want them to have enough chips that they don’t feel desperate yet, but not too many so that they have no fear.

Double or Nothing Strategy – The Bubble

For a good player, the bubble of a double or nothing is where almost all the profit comes from. This is where every move you make needs to be well considered, as an error here has a bigger impact than an error anywhere else in the SNG. If everyone has an even stack size, then 5 out of the remaining 6 players will win. This means that everyone remaining in the double or nothing SNG has approximately an 83% chance of winning. This means that any time two players are all in, it’s bad for those two players and fantastic for everyone else. Let’s see why:

Let’s assume that the remaining six players have even stacks at the bubble. Theoretically, how good a hand do you need to call an all in? Let’s take what is generally a really good situation in a poker tournament, and let’s say that you have your opponent dominated. If your opponent has A-2 offsuit and you have AK suited, then you are a 75% favourite in the hand. Pretty good usually, BUT on the bubble of a double or nothing SNG you are already an 83% chance to make the money! Calling when you are dominating your opponent actually results in an 8% loss in equity! A horrendous result! This is why calling an all in on the bubble is so damaging to your profit. Good players fold in this situation, and bad players call, which is why good players should be able to make consistent profit in double or nothing SNGs.

In some situations it may even be correct to fold AA on the bubble of a double or nothing SNG! If your opponent has a hand like 7-8 suited, your aces are only about 77% chance to win! Folding aces on the bubble in a double or nothing SNG may actually be 6% more profitable than calling!

Folding big hands on the bubble is often correct double or nothing strategy, but it is very counter-intuitive, which is why so many beginner and intermediate players make errors in this format. Avoiding these errors is how the expert players make their money.

On the bubble, be the person shoving, not the person calling. Make notes on the players who have been playing well: these will be the players most likely to fold when you shove all in on their big blind. As always however, try and avoid shoving all-in on the big stacks or the very small stacks.

When should you call an all in? Again, the only time you should look to call an all in is when you have a monster hand (such as Aces or Kings) and you are either a massive stack (2 or 3 times everyone else) or when you are the micro-stack. Being the micro stack, you may be the next person to blind out. If this is the case, it MAY be worth making a stand with a strong hand, rather than taking your chances in the big blind. Avoid becoming the micro-stack by pushing all in before you get blinded too low!

Double or Nothing Guide

Not all poker sites run double or nothing sit and goes, and some of the sites that do run them are so filled with serious grinders that it is hard to make a profit. The best way to grow your double or nothing bankroll is to play on sites which are particularly soft. Most of your double or nothing ROI will come from the mistakes that bad players make, so it’s worth while searching out the sites where the bad players are more common. Here are the best sites for Double or Nothing SNGs:

Carbon Poker: This is one of the few sites that USA players can play on that run Double or Nothing SNGs. Carbon Poker has only started hosting double or nothing sit and goes over the last few months, so the majority of your opponents on Carbon Poker won’t be very good yet. Double or Nothing poker SNGs run all the way up to the $109 buy-in, so there is pretty serious money to be made there. Carbon Poker also has good software, an excellent volume of games, and the standard first deposit bonus of $600. At the moment, players from France and Australia aren’t able to join Carbon Poker, so they may be better off registering for PartyPoker or Titan Poker instead.

PartyPoker: The double or nothing’s on PartyPoker (Called Double Up poker SNGs on this site) are very weak, and they run regularly up to the $50 buy-in level. PartyPoker is not available to players from the USA however, so the volume of games that fire isn’t as high as it is on Carbon Poker. You will still be able to play 10 to 12 tables of Double or Nothing SNGs, but there may not be enough volume to play 20. A soft site with excellent customer support and smooth, easy to use software.

Titan Poker: The Double or Nothings on Titan Poker have a quick structure, so it is a good site if you are keen to play a large volume of games. The 6 player Double or Nothings (where the top 3 players double up) are more popular on this site than other sites for some reason. Alas, Titan Poker isn’t able to service players from the USA, but for players in Europe it is one of the top online poker sites.

Whichever poker site you choose to play on, keep in mind the fundamentals of the Double or Nothing format, and you will be able to show strong results. Best of luck at the tables!