When Double or Nothing sit-and-go tournaments, commonly known as DoNs, first appeared, I did a little research in to how they should be played with an ICM calculator. I knew tight play would be correct, but I was surprised at exactly how tight the correct starting hand standards really were.

The very flat payout structure is the reason that such tight play is correct. The more a payout structure is slanted toward the top in a tournament, the closer you should be to cash game play and the more risks you can take early in the tournament because doubling up will come close to actually doubling your equity. With a very flat payout structure that pays more money down the line, like the 50/30/20 payout structure of a regular sit-and-go, surviving becomes more important and staying out of confrontations often takes precedence over accumulating chips.

The DoN structure is the flattest structure of any tournament that has ever been offered on a consistent basis, and therefore requires the tightest play early. To get involved in a hand in a DoN, you must have a much larger advantage because your equity will not increase by as much if you double up. Here’s what the starting equity for each stack looks like in the ICM calculator at chillin411.com.

Everyone has the same stack and each stack is worth exactly 10% of the prize pool. If you manage to get all-in preflop and lose, your equity will obviously go to zero, but if you win it will not double. It can not double, because that would mean that your chips were already worth the 20% of the prize pool that is the maximum you can win. Since you are not guaranteed that money just because you double up, you can’t have that much equity. The new equity distribution when one player doubles up and another player goes broke, actually looks like this –

Player 1 has doubled up, but his equity has only gone up by about 56%. He needs to be a 65/35 favorite, almost 2 to 1.

If you hold QQ, your opponent’s all-in range would have to include hands like A9s, KTs, and 88. After watching and playing in a few of these tournaments, the players at the $10 or higher buy-in level will not be getting all of their chips in with hand ranges anywhere near this wide.

And what about KK? Or AK?

With KK, if you are facing an all-in push on the first hand of a Double-or-Nothing tournament, and you hold KK, then you can only call if you are a 65/35 favorite over your opponent’s range as we saw earlier. How wide does that range need to be?

If you think your opponent will only get all-in with JJ+, AQs and AK, then you should fold, but against range wider than this you should call. Kings actually look pretty strong here.

And what about big slick? Good old A-K is only worth a call all-in on the first hand if you are sure that your opponent is pushing his chips all-in with at least the top 35% of all hands. This includes hands like K5s and Q8o, hands that you won’t see in a tournament of any size at all. Even in $5 DoN tournaments, you won’t see a range that wide getting all-in preflop until very late in the tournament when the very short stacks start to push because they have no other choice.

All of this serves as an excellent lesson on why ICM and tournament equity considerations are so important. In most multi-table tournaments, the prize pool is weighted heavily toward the top, which lessens the importance of ICM and stack equity considerations, but those considerations are still there and knowing about them is important in any tournament unless the prize pool is winner take all.

Double or Nothing sit-and-gos are also a pretty good way to make some cash if you have a good computer, and the grinder’s mentality to play lots of tables. The DoN grinders that are making enough money to make it worthwhile are playing at least 12 tables, and many of them are playing 20 tables or more to make a reasonable income. It is easier to play lots of tables when playing the Double or Nothing tournaments because it is correct to play so tight early and most of the decisions are automatic.

I'll see you at the final table,
Chris Fox Wallace

P.S. Check out my new site at pokerwhip.com

Articles by Fox

Why Aren't More People Playing Omaha Poker? Sep 07, 2009
Poker College (Part 4) Aug 31, 2009
Poker College (Part 3) Aug 17, 2009
Poker College (Part 2) Aug 10, 2009
Poker College (Part 1) Aug 03, 2009
Taking the Plunge Jun 23, 2005
Wax On, Wax Off Jun 14, 2005
A Damn Fine Week for the Fox Jun 06, 2005
A Quick Update Jun 02, 2005
Thanks to Beanie and Annie May 27, 2005
Killing the Single Tables May 17, 2005
Playing Multiple Tables May 12, 2005
Meeting Beanie and Feldliss May 09, 2005
Still Chasing Bonus Dollars May 06, 2005
A Frantic Week May 02, 2005
Party Bonus This Week Apr 22, 2005
I Learned Something Today Apr 16, 2005
Put On Your Tin Foil Hat… Apr 12, 2005
Whipping the Entire Field Apr 08, 2005
Introduction to Fox Apr 05, 2005

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