Best Poker Sites for Double or Nothing SNG

What is a Double or Nothing Sit-and-Go?

Any SnG in which the prize pool pays out double the buy-in to 50% of the players is classified as a Double or Nothing game. While certain sites have laid claim to the trademark “Double or Nothing”, pretty much every site spreads a game based on the 50% payout structure. Each site just names its games differently.

Double or Nothing games differ from regular SnGs mainly in terms of prize structure. In a regular single table Sit-and-Go, only the top 3 players are paid out. This holds for both 9- and 10-player games. Prize structures generally resemble the following in such games:

• 50% to 1st place
• 30% to 2nd place
• 20% to 3rd place

So you’re not really making any money unless you hit 1st. Even if you come in 2nd and 3rd a bunch of times, profits will still be small. So in the long run, only really skilled players – those who can hit 1st place more often than others – will make any money.

Double or Nothing Sit-and-Gos level the playing field a bit. Rather than paying out in such a top-heavy fashion, they spread the wealth more evenly across players. You can win more often, and it will take less effort to do so. You don’t have to play for 1st place all the time, and thus your winrate levels out a little.

What Are the Best Double or Nothing Poker Sites?

You’ll find Double or Nothing Sit-and-Go games spread at most of the major poker sites online. That said, just because a room spreads the games doesn’t mean it actually has traffic. You’ll want to pick a Double or Nothing poker site that actually runs games frequently – not all of them do.

888 Poker (no USA players) should be your first choice if you’re looking to focus on Double or Nothing games. It’s one of the biggest networks online at this time, so there are always plenty of opponents to take on. Click here to get started at 888 Poker, one of the busiest Double or Nothing poker sites around.

US-based players should take a look at Cake Poker instead. The traffic figures here don’t quite match those at 888 Poker, but it’s close. The “Double Up” games at Cake Poker run pretty frequently, mostly at the small stakes.

How Do You Beat Double or Nothing Sit-and-Go Games?

A winning philosophy for a regular SnG player is to play for 1st place all the time – you want all the chips in play. A winning philosophy for Double or Nothing poker sites is pretty much the opposite: play to cash.

Of course, in order to cash you just need to place 5th or higher. This changes proper strategy in a number of ways. To win at Double or Nothing Sit-and-Gos, you’ll need to play a more conservative strategy; at the same time, you’ll need to temper your conservatism to match your opponents. This seems like a paradox, but it resolves itself upon analysis.

Risk-Taking in Double or Nothing Sit-and-Gos

Playing conservatively in this context means not taking unnecessary risks. In a regular Sit-and-Go game, it is often worth it to play for stacks with an opponent given a fairly marginal hand. In a Double or Nothing Sit-and-Go, it’s almost never worth it.

You don’t need to accumulate all the chips at the table to win in a Double or Nothing game, so there’s really no point to all-in races with less than a lock. You’re only trying to make it to the bubble – let the more inexperienced players give up their stacks early on. If in doubt, fold.

In a Double or Nothing, it is correct to pass on some edges you’d always take in a regular game. Big all-in calls on the bubble, for example. You often want to make these in regular games, because again, you’re playing for 1st place; you need lots of chips, so it makes sense to take smaller edges when you’ve got few. In a double or nothing, you can usually afford to avoid risk entirely on the bubble, unless the blind levels are quite high.

The key is this: aim to outlast, not to outplay. Or redefine the terms: outlasting is outplaying in a Double or Nothing Sit-and-Go.

Punishing Weakness in Double or Nothing Sit-and-Gos

You want to play more conservatively at a Double or Nothing poker site than you would normally, but you don’t want to let it get out of hand. You want to stay aggressive enough to punish those players who do play too conservatively. This is how you build an edge in Double or Nothing games.

You aren’t looking to build a ginormous stack in a DoN round. You’re just looking to get by until 5 players are gone. Thus your strategy becomes one of maintenance, rather than accumulation. And the more timid your opponents, the easier it will be to maintain a healthy stack.

You maintain a stack properly by stealing pots wherever possible. This is especially true when antes come into play at the higher levels; here stealing blinds becomes your main source of income.

You’ll want to match your stealing frequency with the fold-to-steal frequency of your table. If you notice that your opponents are a bunch of nits, steal more. If you notice that you’ve got a few calling stations at the table, steal less. Such calling stations will not last long in a Double or Nothing; it’s more profitable to wait for them to bust than to try and bust them with fancy play.

If you implement the two concepts above consistently – selective conservatism and anti-conservatism – you’ll find that Double or Nothing poker sites aren’t all that hard to beat.