If you are a new online poker player and want to avoid the all-too common occurrence of losing your bankroll in the space of a few days, then targeting the right games at the right level is vital.
As a new player, you need to keep the odds in your favour as you build a bankroll and one of the best ways to do that, is by targeting Double Your Money games on your preferred website.
Top UK websites, such as Bet365 Poker, Sky Poker, BetVictor Poker and 888 Poker all offer Double Your Money Sit & Go games, although they may be listed under slightly different names on each site.
In order to help you become a stronger poker player and to help you build a bankroll, these games are the perfect choice for a beginner to start.
What makes Double Your Money games so attractive for beginner players?
There is a simple answer to this frequently asked question and that answer is simply far better odds of you finishing the game with more than you started it with.
If you enter a tournament with 100 people, with the top 10 or even 20 places paid out, your odds of winning a prize (before taking into consideration individual poker skills) is about one in five. Your odds of landing the top prize is 1 in 100.
On a Double Your Money table the top prize is available to half the players sat at that table. You can’t win more than double your money on most of these games (though some sites like 888 Poker do offered staggered payments for finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd on tables).
This means your chances of walking away from the table, all things being equal, with a top prize is around 1 in 2.
Of course, those odds are not entirely accurate as it does not take into account the individual skills and ability of the players sat around the table, but even so, they are far better odds for a beginner player seeking to establish themselves as a player and keep their bankroll ticking over.
Having established that any player has a much better chance of success in these games, we need to learn how to then improve your chances further of success by following some handy tips about actually playing in these games.
Outlined below are five tips for success which when allied to an improved understanding of basic poker strategy, should mean that you end up winning a few more Double Your Money games, than you lose.
Tip 1: Before you start playing learn basic poker strategy
Without a doubt, the best piece of advice you can give any beginner poker player before they hit the Double Your Money tables, or indeed any other Poker table that offers the chance to play for real cash, is to learn about at least basic poker strategy.
Many top sites offer a veritable feast of articles about poker strategy which you can read through at your leisure and which are hugely important in explaining some of the main skills you will need to avoid the many pitfalls of a beginner player and which will rapidly increase your ability as a novice.
It is a fundamental of the game that you learn the basics of successful poker as you then know you are beginning your poker experience online by playing the right way, and not simply reinforcing bad habits.
Once you have put the basic skills you need into practice, you can then increase on your learning by learning more advanced poker skills, strategies and techniques which will help you become an even more accomplished player.
An hour or so spent reading through and understanding the basics of the game is a great help to new players. Learn about when to and when not to bluff, how to avoid becoming pot committed when in a weak position, the importance of position at the table, what information you can ascertain from different types of bets and how you can calculate your outs and pot odds.
Doing so makes you a much, much stronger player at all poker tables almost immediately, especially if you can translate those words you have learned into solid poker play at the table.
Tip 2: At the table, keep bluffing to the minimum
The first rule I always tell novice players is to forget the ‘Hollywood’ approach to poker. If you are playing a relatively small stakes Double Your Money game, don’t think you can masterfully bluff your way to success on each and every hand.
There is undeniably an art to bluffing that goes beyond simply making a bet and hoping your opponent believes you have a stronger hand and folds. To bluff successfully you need to think about more than simply the cards you have (or don’t have) and more about how your opponents perceive you as a player, what their play at the table has revealed and the plausibility of you having the hand you are pretending to represent.
Too many novice players in a Double Your Money game will find themselves down a couple of hundred chips or so, will then see several players make bets to swell a pot, and then become pot committed with a huge bet, sometimes All-in, in order to try and persuade other players to fold.
This tends not too happen as the likelihood of two, three, four or even five other players all bluffing with weak hands, is relatively small. Most players, especially if they have experience of playing, will be holding something and if you are bluffing, then the likelihood is, it will be better than what you are holding.
So forget the dramatic bluff victory that Hollywood is so fond of, it may work on screen but in real life, your bluff will likely be called and then you are reliant on hitting one or sometimes more of your outs against a strong hand with all your chips on the table.
Tip 3: If you are at a table with lots of action, let other players take the risks
One of the best things about Double Your Money tables is that each table does play differently. On some play is very tight and slow moving initially, with relatively few chips committed to the pot by players and it is only as the blinds creep up, that play tends to become a little looser.
In contrast, on some tables you may find yourself up against three or four players who are only too willing to throw plenty of chips into the pot on each hand and if you are wise, this is an absolutely ideal table to play on because, you can sit on your chips and wait.
If other players are willing to risk chips consistently, then let them. Take no chances, fold your weak hands and play your strong ones without becoming pot committed. Remember, you don’t have to win chips to win at Double Your Money, you only have to be one of the players remaining in the game when half your table have been eliminated, to win.
So for example, if you are playing on a 10 player table, and 5 or 6 players are playing fast, aggressive and loose, then let them take each other out. Sit on your hand and chips and before you know it, you’ll be down to 6 or 7 players and your chances of winning have already increased markedly.
This doesn’t mean you should not try to win hands if you are dealt pocket Aces or Kings or similar. But in such a situation, playing cautiously and letting others take the risk for you, is a simple and easy way to give yourself a much better chance of doubling your stake money.
Tip 4: Try to win chips early in the game and establish yourself as one of the chip leaders
A good strategy in Double Your Money games is to try and establish yourself as a dominant player at the table. Play strong hands well, pick up cheap pots by betting strongly when in position and by increasing your chips, you are making yourself an unattractive option for players with fewer chips to take on.
If you can keep a steady stream of chips coming into your stack, not only are you weakening your opponents, but you are strengthening your position at the table. That makes you a less appealing prospect to players who will have to risk a significant proportion of their chips to take you on, while you risk a significantly smaller proportion.
Also remember, just because you have lots of chips, doesn’t mean you have to be the player trying to eliminate the others. If you manage to accrue many more chips than other players then you have the luxury of sitting on your chips and letting the blinds rise until it becomes too expensive for smaller stacked players to pay. This forces their hand somewhat and weakens their position.
Remember, in most games, you don’t win more for winning more chips. It is just finishing in the top half of your table that earns you success.
Tip 5: Don’t over commit to the pot pre-flop
Perhaps the biggest mistakes a newbie player can make is committing too much of their stack to the pot pre-flop. This is a tough situation at times as if someone goes All-in and you are sitting with AK, surely you have a decent chance of success?
Of course, AK is a decent hand, but committing pre-flop, especially if it is an All-In call, or commits a large amount of you chips to the pot is a risk. If the other player is sitting with just a small pair and hits a third on the flop, you are now reliant on just six possible outs and you need to hit the same value card twice on the turn and river.
The chances of that are very slim indeed.
It is worth remembering that pre-flop, while AA is the top hand, post flop, you are giving every player who is in the hand three more chances to beat your hand. I have seen countless pre flop AA hands beaten by much lesser hands due to the five community cards.
So be wary of risking too much pre-flop, especially with anything less than the top pair. In smaller stakes Double Your Money games, some people will think nothing of calling you, especially if losing is only going to cost them a pound or two, even if they have literally nothing in their hand at the time.
Establishing a strong presence at your table helps with this as if you have won several hands and go all-in, this will make players think twice about taking you on. However, it is a risky tactic and not one I would necessarily advise if you do not have the strongest possible hand.
Looking for more bankroll building advice? Read our guide to growing your Sky Poker bankroll.
