I’ve been playing a lot of the double thru poker tournaments on PKR since they have been introduced, and I must say it is easy money, great for bankroll building. They are good tournaments to play while multi tabling.
The double thru payout structure is simple, in a 10 player SnG, the top 5 get paid the same. The first 5 out, get nothing. So playing to win the tournament is not the focus, simply making it into the top 5 is the only goal.
Start of Double Thru Strategy
The early stages of the game is simple, fold fold fold.
Get to learn the players at the table, and start taking notes on the aggressive players.
You’ll want to know for the next times you play these tournaments.
Don’t even bother with with hands like AQo from early to middle position. The last thing you want to do early in these tournaments is getting trapped, specially at the small blind level, there is no reward for stealing early, and winning monster pots doesn’t mean you cash out, you can only lose at this stage.
Watch your blinds, keep players honest that are aggressive when your on them. You don’t want to show your blinds are easy to steal, but at the same time, if you have a weak hand… let it go.
Let the players that get AA, KK, QQ raise it up and play against each other.
Let them take each other out, while you sit there and double your money thru them because they were told aggressive pays….
Still Early Stages Couple Knocked Out
With a couple players knocked out, say your down to 6-7 we want to focus only playing against those players we have notes on that are playing tight. Try to change gears before they do, so you can pick up those key pots that help you post blinds each round.
What is Big Fold
There is no big folds in a double thru, only smart ones. Folding AA preflop is not unheard of vs an all in. Even tho the odds are strong, that the aces can win, we know they don’t always win.
So lets see flops cheap, and not brag about the monster fold, and never show it either. The last thing you want to do is assure them your a weak/tight player.
The Bubble Big/Med Stack
Here it is simple, we just fold into the money. It isn’t pretty, but then again I’ve never seen any models on any of my dollar bills either. Keep it simple and smart, play only when it is needed. Do not be drawing, and never think your pot committed with out having a made hand.
The Bubble Low Stack
Oh crap, blinded down so much the chip stack is so low that everyone is folding waiting for me to go out… That’s fine, just try to avoid going all in vs a stack that will easily call you. Try to steal a blind from another short stack. Most importantly, don’t get so low that 2-3 players can easily call your all in and then check it down.
The Focus
The goal of the double thru is just to make the money. The average SnG double thru last just less then 1/4 of the time a regular SnG plays. That means the blinds tend to stay low till the game is over, so there is no rush.
