Tag Archives: double
4 Tips to Winning Double or Nothing Tournaments
Double or nothing tournaments are much different than normal poker tournaments because they have a very unique payout structure. In a double or nothing tournament half of the players in the field double their buy-in and half lose theirs. The fact that so many players cash combined with the fact that there is no difference in prize amount between first place and the last casher means the strategy for these tournaments is very unique.
Tip 1 Play Tight in the Early Stages of the Tourney At this stage of a double or nothing tournament you want to play very tight and only play big hands. The less experienced double or nothing players will likely be playing a lot of hands and you want to let them. If you do find a good hand you should play it aggressively in order to keep from allowing your opponent to suck out on you.
Tip 2 Maintain Your Stack through the Middle Stages In the middle stages of a double or nothing tournament the blinds will start to increase and you will need to steal blinds on occasion to maintain your stack size. You cant have your stack getting too small at this stage because you want it to carry you through the later levels.
Tip 3 Survive the Late Stages In the late stages you should just be focussing on surviving. At this point there will be about two-thirds of the field remaining which means there will only be a few more busts before you cash. If you have a big stack at this stage you should just hold onto it and not risk any chips when you dont need to. If you have a short stack you will want to compare your stack size to the other short stacks and if you are in a non-cash position you should get aggressive and try to gain some chips. If you need to get aggressive you should try to use your position to your advantage and you should also attack the blinds of the medium sized stacks. These players with about an average stack at this point will be wanting to fold their way into the money and you can take advantage of this by stealing their blinds.
Tip 4 Avoid Coin Flips in the Early Stages In double or nothing tournaments it is best to avoid coin flips in the early stages because they are negative expected value. This is simply because if you lose the coin flip youre out of the tourney and you lose the buy-in, whereas if you manage to win the coin flip you just have double the amount of chips and you arent even guaranteed to cash. This theory holds true only because the top prize you can win is only double your buy-in and by winning the 50% coin flip you havent even guaranteed yourself this cash.
Double or nothing tournaments are a grind and once the non-experienced players go out in the early rounds it all comes down to who can best adjust in the late stages and get the cards when they are needed.
Novice Guide: Effective Strategy For Blackjack (Page 1 of 2)
When watching people playing at the best rated online casinos, often times you’ll notice that they’re just guessing at what decision to make next. This is most obvious when watching people who play blackjack. They are totally unaware of how much of an effect they have on the total outcome if they were familiar with some of the basics of blackjack. Unlike many other conventional casino games, blackjack is actually a positive expectation game and can work to your full advantage, if the right decisions are made while you play.
One of the first strategies that blackjack players use when trying to beat the game is what is known as the Effective Blackjack Strategy.
HIT AND STAND The most basic thing to remember is, because the dealer always has to take a hit on any hand 16 or lower, you won’t win as much money when you’re holding less than 17, unless the dealer busts.
Like these one: If your hand is below 17 and the dealer is flaunting an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, or 8, you need to take a hit. Remember, Whenever the dealer holds one of these cards his chances of busting are very meager, so unless you clear 16 your chances of winning are also meager.
When to stand? Let’s say your hand is beyond 12 and the dealer shows a 4, 5, or 6, your best play is to stand. When the dealer is showing any of these 3 cards, the dealer’s chances of busting are on a high. In fact, it’s more than 40% of the time. Think of how silly you’d feel if you took a hit with 15, caught a 10 and busted, only to see that the dealer had 14 and would have been forced to take a hit and draw the 10 instead of you. Every time you bust yourself instead of busting the dealer, you’re not winning as much money as you could be winning.
DOUBLE The best and the fastest way to make it when playing Blackjack is by successfully doubling down at every chance. Doubling down can make you double your bet or end up costing you double if you do it in a bad spot. The first and most important rule of doubling down is, always double down any hand summing up 11.
No matter what the dealer’s showing, if you hit a 10 when you’ve got 11 he won’t beat you.
So when else should you double down? When your hand is 10 and the dealer is showing a 9 or lower, double it up. When your hand is a 9 or you have a “soft” hand like an Ace counted as 11 between 13 and 17 against a dealer’s 4, 5 or 6, double it up. That’s it though. Those hands give you the best shot at cashing in when you double down.
SPLIT Splitting can be highly profitable if you do it with the right cards, or you could end up costing you by splitting a winning hand into a pair of losers.
The first thing to remember when splitting is, never split 10’s or 5’s. The 10’s refers to any card valued 10, whether it be the actual 10 or any face card. Conversely, always split aces and eights, no matter what the dealer is showing. The reason behind splitting aces should be obvious, but you might be perplexed about 8’s.