Double Up Poker

Double Up Poker Rating: 5,6/10 6163 votes

Poker Strategy

Video poker double up

Poker Reviews

Double Bonus Video Poker. Double Bonus video poker is fast starting to rival Jacks or Better video poker in popularity because of its increased wins for all Four of a Kind hands and big payouts on Four of a Kind Aces. The variance is also almost 2X that of Jacks or Better, and this makes Double. Draw Poker with the exciting Double-Up feature. Player can discard up to 5 cards per hand. When player has a winning hand, he has 2 choices. He may keep his win with the 'Take' button or try to double it with the 'Double' button. If he selects 'Double. Double Double Bonus, also known as 10/6 video poker, is another popular variant based on Jacks or Better. This game also uses the standard 52-card deck and offers all the same video poker fun. Unlike a traditional SNG where you are focused on first making the top 3, and then. Overview: Our Free Double Double Bonus Video Poker game obeys the standard video poker rules and is a single hand type video poker machine. It is played with a standard 52 card deck and the cards are shuffled before each hand. Double Double Bonus Poker is similar to Jacks or Better Video Poker.

Poker Bonuses

If you’re looking for a low risk bankroll building strategy, then Pokerstars’ Double Up SNGs are right up your alley. Ten players enter, and five players leave with double their money. There are no points for first and your only objective should be to survive the bubble. For that reason, a good tight aggressive strategy (with an emphasis on tight) is the right way to approach these games. Don’t forget to check out our top five SNG tips article as well for regular SNG and turbo SNG tips.

Keep in mind that these are most profitable when multi-tabling. With that in mind, this guide presents tips designed to help players who plan to play 3 or more tables at once.

Top five Double UP SNG tips

1. Play Tight

Unlike a traditional SNG where you are focused on first making the top 3, and then winning, double up SNGs are about one thing, survive to five. In the early stages of the SNG there is no reason to get aggressive or put yourself at risk when your sole focus is to survive the bubble with at least one chip. For this reason you should play a very conservative game. You want to preserve as many chips as possible for the bubble or situations where you are favored.

Let your opponents eliminate one another and do your best to preserve your chips and look for good spots.

2. Play Push Fold Poker Near the Bubble

When you have around 8 to 10 blinds left in your stack, the value of a standard raise goes down dramatically. At this point in the tournament you should be looking for good situations to put all your chips in the middle of the table. The benefit of moving all-in goes up in double up SNGs where your opponents are even more reluctant than usual to call off a significant portion of their chips.

What you should be looking for in these situations is reasonably strong hands with no openers in the pot ahead of you; or if the size of your chip stack is around 6 to 7 blinds, any two cards will do so long as no one has entered the pot.

3. Get Loose and Aggressive on the Bubble if Necessary

If you are one of the chip leaders, then you don’t need to put your stack in jeopardy by loosening up on the bubble. However, if you are one of the shorter stacked players at the table then you need to look for spots to pick on the medium stacks. The beauty of double-up SNGs is that your opponents will want to do everything in their power to avoid losing in 6th place. This means that you if you are in danger of losing in 6th place yourself, you can jam your entire stack in the middle and force the big blind to pick up a big hand or else risk busting out. Avoid the big stack when making this play.

4. Avoid the Bubble

As mentioned before, you don’t want to go out in 6th place if you can avoid it. Once there are 6 players remaining, the pressure is on the two shortest stacks to make a play and avoid blinding off.

If you are short stacked, it is at this point that you need to take measure of your opposition and figure out what your game plan is. The position of the more aggressive big stacks becomes very important here. If the aggressive big stack is on the button when you are in the big blind and under the gun when the other short stack is in the big blind, the pressure is actually on you even if you have the other short stack out chipped.

Determine who has to make the first move between you and the other short stack and play accordingly.

Regardless of who has to make the first move, it is very dangerous to allow your stack to get shorter than 4 to 5 big blinds. That being said, double-up SNGs are one of the few types of SNGs where it is at times correct to allow yourself to blind off while the shorter stack gets blinded off and eliminated. Experience will give you a better sense of how to handle these situations.

5. Avoid the Big Stack

Whenever you are involved in a hand with a player in a double-up SNG, you would prefer to be the player with the larger chip stack. If you are not yourself the chip leader, this somewhat limits the hands you will be able to play.

The reason you want to avoid the big stack is because the pressure for being eliminated in a double-up SNG is higher than in a regular SNG. This means that being the larger stack has a slight advantage in any confrontation. That being said, a strong hand will definitely make up for this disadvantage.

This is never truer than on the bubble or approaching the bubble. If you are a shorter stack and you are looking for places to move all-in to steal the blinds, avoid the big stack unless your hand is strong enough to go to a showdown.

Download Pokerstars and Get Your Piece of the Action!

Pokerstars is far and away the largest and most reliable online poker site in the world! If you are looking for tons of action at all hours, you got it. Need reliable cashouts? No problem. Want $600 dollars just for signing up through TopFivePoker.com? Just click here!

Top 5 Poker Rooms

PokerStars is the world's largest online poker room. Sign up for a $600 bonus and VIP rewards.
PokerStars Review
True Poker has the fastest payouts to US players. Sign up to receive a $1000 deposit bonus.
True Poker Review
Party Poker is one of the oldest and most trusted poker rooms. Sign up for a $500 bonus.
Party Poker Review
Carbon Poker is the largest room for US players. Sign up for 45% cashback and $600.
Carbon Poker ReviewDouble Up Poker
Muchos Poker is a platform that lets you play at 10 different poker rooms with one bankroll.
Muchos Poker Review
  • Appendices
  • Strategies
    • Jacks or Better
    • Deuces Wild
    • Quick Quads
    • Ultimate X
  • Miscellaneous
Certain video poker machines have a 'double down' or double-or-nothing wager feature when you win a hand. I usually avoid this wager, not wanting to risk winnings in excess of my original bet. But I AM tempted to try this wager on winning hands that only pay even money on the original bet. My reasoning is that the machine's usual payback is somewhere in the 96-99% range, which includes rare hands over the long haul; but in this circumstance, this bet would seem to payback an even 100% over a shorter period of time.

The double or nothing feature in video poker is the only other casino bet, besides the odds in craps, with no house edge. Whether or not you take it depends on your reason for playing. If you are playing a negative-expectation game, for purposes of entertainment, then I think you should accept the double-up option in moderation, depending on on your desire or aversion to volatility. The reason is that it is better to play a game with zero house edge than a positive one. However, you have to balance that against your tolerance for risk. If you are fortunate to be playing a positive-expectation game, then I would decline the opportunity to double.

What are the guidelines for doubling up on winning hands in video poker? If I do double up and the 5 cards show a winning hand, would that have been my next hand had I not doubled up?

The double up feature is truly fair and has no house edge. This is one of the few times I say you can go either way and just do what you want. From what I know of how slots are programmed the cards you get in the double up screen are not what you would have got on the next hand. Random numbers are constantly being drawn and those chosen at the exact moment you hit 'deal' determine what cards you get.

You wrote, 'The double up feature is truly fair and has no house edge. This is one of the few times I say you can go either way and just do what you want.' The same, of course, is true of true odds bets at craps. So, why promote taking odds at craps and not promote doubling up? Just as you can drop the house edge to essentially nothing at craps, you can do the same thing at video poker or blackjack...My own reasoning is that cutting cards against the casino for fair stakes is just boring, but I'd be interested in your opinion.

You are of course quoting me from my March 24 column. This is a good and fair question. I should point out that taking or laying the odds in craps does not help the player to win more, only to bet more at no additional expense. The reason I encourage craps players to bet on the odds is that it is the cheapest bet on the table and is truly a craps bet. All odds, as well as place, buy, and lay bets win if one number is thrown before another. This is a very fundamental aspect of the game. It only makes sense for the player to make the bet with the lowest house edge. Refusing the odds in craps to bet on something else instead is like refusing a free coffee refill in a restaurant and instead buying another cup.

Double Up Poker

As I pointed out in the last column some video poker games allow the player to make a double or nothing bet with no house edge. The reason I am not as forceful about taking this bet is that it does not follow the flow of video poker. The video poker player is generally not there to make a mindless even money bet. Gambling should be thought of as entertainment, for which the player should expect to pay for. If the player doesn't get any entertainment value out of the double up feature then he shouldn't pay for it, even with no house edge. So my advice to the video poker player is make the double up bet if you enjoy it, otherwise don't.

How does multiple doubling up in video poker cut the house edge?

Double Me Up Poker League

Double Up Poker

This question refers to advice I gave in my newsletter, suggesting video poker players take the double up option when playing for a bonus at a Playtech casino. Doubling up does not lower the house edge of video poker, but does introduce another bet with zero house edge. For the same reason you should take or lay odds in craps it cuts the overall house edge playing video poker if you take the double up feature. Playtech does count double up bets towards the play requirement, so it gets the player to the bonus with less expected loss. So unless you are playing a machine with a return of over 100% and you don’t mind extra volatility then I recommend accepting the double up option.

In your last column you said you liked the double up feature in video poker. How many times is the player allowed to double up and how many times do you recommend?

I understand that at least with some machines the number of doubles is configurable but is usually set to 4 or 5. How many times you should take the double up depends on how good or bad the pay table is and your tolerance for risk. If your goal is to achieve the highest expected return then you should double up the maximum number of times, or at least until a win would put your over the W2G threshold of $1200. When I play negative pay tables online I usually double up to $100 to $1000, depending on how much action I have to grind through and my winning goal. My advice is to ask yourself how much you are comfortable betting on the turn of a card and keep doubling up to that point.

Double Me Up Poker Schedule

If there is no house advantage in the double up feature in video poker, why do the casinos offer it?

Double Up Poker Strategy

Just to attract customers who like it. It definitely lowers hands per hour, and thus profits, but if they get extra players it may be worth it.

I am a very big fan of using the double up feature of video poker. Is there any limit to the amount of money you can win with double up or is it pure luck. For instance does a game only pay out for instance 99% of all credits doubled, or can you win any amount not matter how much credits has been lost at double up. It is crucial for me to know this.

Any legitimate game maker has the double up feature as a truly fair bet with a 100% return. So you have a 50/50 chance of winning any given bet (not counting ties) regardless of the amount bet or the results of past bets.

Poker
In slots or video poker, when playing with a double or nothing feature, how many times should I try to double?

Free Video Poker Double Up

It depends on your reason for playing. If you are trying to achieve some winning goal, like doubling your bankroll, then you should keep doubling until you reach your goal, or you reach the maximum number of doubles allowed. If you are trying to play as long as possible on a given bankroll, then I would double only on small wins, and then only once. If you have some combination of both goals, then I would have a mixed strategy. The more important winning is to you, the more aggressive you should be doubling. The more important “time on device” is to you, the less you should be.