Double-Up Secrets #1

I've long used StatCounter to monitor the activity here on the Patchwork blog. Mostly it shows me how futile is the effort to continue this mess, but I do it as much for myself as anyone else, so I keep going. It's also made clear to me that the vast majority of people who come here via search engine do so by mistake. That was the genesis of the "Maybe you were looking for..." section off to the right (if you're not using Bloglines or Google Reader).

A strange thing has happened recently. Some people have been searching for terms that properly link here. (Aside from "Guest-Tek sucks". It still cracks me up that I'm #1 on Google for that search string. I'll probably now cement that position since I've mentioned it again.) Someone came here specifically looking for "MMIAs". That's a bit of a hoot since as far as I'm aware I'm the only one to ever use that term and even I haven't used it in quite a while. There are still plenty of them out there in case you wondered.

Several of the recent searches have been for information regarding the Double-Up tournaments I've been writing about. Specifically, people seem to be looking for tips on how to win at these. Careful reads of what I've written will no doubt turn up more than a few useful tips, but I've generally assumed anyone reading this blog is already an experienced player and is aware of how to properly play in the types of events where the top X places all get the same prize.

I may come to regret it, but this is the first of what will no doubt be a very irregular, disjoint series of tips on how to be successful at Double-Up tournaments. In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that right now I stand 16 for 25 in these. I was bubble boy in at least three of the losses. (I also gigli'd in a couple, most spectacularly when I went out on the first hand in a KK vs AA battle.)

So, without further ado, here is Double-Up Secret #1.

You don't have to come in first to win.

This may well be firmly in the "duh" category, but it has everything to do with how to properly play in these tournaments. You don't have to build a giant stack. It's a bit like when you're in a group hiking and you come across an angry bear. You don't have to be the fastest runner in the group. You just have to not be the slowest.

With the Double-Up tournaments, you just have to keep your stack in the top five. Much of the time simply not being the short stack is good enough. I'd like to be able to say when you build your stack to size X you can sit back and relax, but I can't. There is no fixed rule on stack size because, like with most things in poker, it depends on the situation.

Generally speaking, if you double up early, this will take you most of the way to victory. If you do so, you should start playing ultra tight. Only get involved in situations where you know you're very, very likely to come out on top. Only play premium holdings and be willing to let go of the drawing hands if there is any resistance at all. I've folded AK pre-flop because somebody ahead of me put in a big raise and I wasn't willing to risk the chips on a hand that will have to connect with the flop to continue. Once you've doubled up your starting stack your objective is chip conservation. The chips you already have will quite likely carry you through, so guard them carefully.

This is not to say you should take undue risks to double up. Some people play these a bit like freerolls, trying to double early, and will push all-in with almost any two cards. If you happen to have premium holdings when this happens, go for it. I don't recommend taking much of a risk though. If you don't have AA, KK, or QQ, it's probably not worth calling. Even QQ would be marginal in the very early going.

Short of a situation like this, play only strong starting hands and maybe the odd speculative suited connector if you can see the flop cheap. Even in the turbos you have sufficient time to build your stack if you don't take a big hit in the early going. Don't be in a hurry. Remember, you don't need the biggest stack, you just need to be in the top five. Once you get beyond the first two or three levels, drop the speculative hands unless you're sure you can afford it.

If you do double up, don't get too confident in your big stack. The blinds will keep rising and you may eventually be forced to engage again. I was in a game the other day where one guy had built his stack to about T4000 and then sat out. Ordinarily a stack of this size at the point in the tournament that he sat out would coast to victory, but this particular tournament dragged on and on. His stack began to dwindle. The blinds kept going up. At some point it became obvious to me that if we all simply folded to the BB as quickly as possible, the absent player would be blinded out and the rest of us would win. Not exactly the white hat way of winning, but this is poker. If you walk away from your seat, you suffer the consequences. The guy did eventually blind out, though it was clear that some of the other players weren't aware of the situation because they kept playing their hands. We'll discuss that topic another time.