Double-Up Poker Rakeback Tournament Strategy
Another popular poker rakeback tournament structure that has been popping up all over the online poker rooms lately are double-up tournaments. In these tournaments you will typically play with 9 other players on the table, and the top five players will make money in the event. For instance, if 10 players pay $10+$1 to enter into a double-up tournament you will only need to play until there are five players left in the tournament since the top five players will make $20. These tournaments aren’t suitable for everyone because you will need to be very patient.
Since you only need to finish in the top five you don’t necessarily need to even make any huge moves in the tournament to win money. If the other players are aggressive then they will eventually knock each other out of the tournament which will usually allow you to fly under the radar in fifth place. The only time you really want to play any hands in double-up tournaments is when you have a high pocket pair or when you have a premium drawing hand. There is no need to play any small pocket pairs or low suited connectors because the likelihood of winning the pot isn’t high enough to warrant any action on your side.
You only need to wait for one good hand in a double-up tournament in order to make the money so make sure you don’t risk your tournament life on a coin flip. The worst thing you could do is go all-in with a low pocket pair and end up being against an A/K because you’ll often lose. You want to wait until you have a nut straight or flush until you move your chips all-in in these tournaments. There is no need to make any unneeded risks unless you’re the short stack in the tournament. As long as you aren’t the short stack then you don’t need to worry about making a stand.
If you are the short stack in a double-up poker tournament then you’re often going to need to start making some moves because nobody else is going to do your job. You will need to begin going all-in with marginal hands and hope that you can double-up once or twice depending on your situation. You will typically be called when you’re the short stack because the chip leaders want players gone so make sure you don’t have a complete junk hand. Always try to have at least suited connectors as a minimum when you make an all-in stand.
If you win some big pots early in a double-up tournament you can’t let it get to your head. Often players will begin pushing the table around and it won’t work this early in the tournament. You should just sit tight with your chips and wait out some of the action. You can usually win these tournaments by sitting out after doubling up once so don’t be anxious to play in pots as it’s often wiser to not play in pots. Generally the tighter poker player you are the better you’ll do in double-up tournaments.