First Stab at the Big Double

Posted February 15th, 2008 by phillau

So there I was, registered in a normal looking $69+15 buy-in MTT on the FullTilt. Not until 2 minutes before the registration closes did I find out that this is a paired game. Explanation: the name of the tourney is “Big Double – A”, and the idea is to play it simultaneously with the other $69+15, “Big Double – B”. Here’s the catch, of the $15 entry fee, $9 goes towards a bonus pool that’s paid out (a) to the players who get ITM for both tournies (splitting 3% of the pool); (b) to the player with the highest average ITM ranking between A & B (getting 2%); (c) to all players who finishes in both final tables (splitting 20); and finally (d) to the player who wins both A & B, if any (getting 75%). The pool of the day is worth around $46k, so there’s a lot of money up for grab.

Back to the topic, now that I figured out the structure of the game, I rushed for the “Big Double – B” registration. So here I am, committing $150 on 2 tables. Total players reg’ed in BD-A is 280 and BD-B is 279, so most players are going for the bonus. To keep the story short, I busted out of BD-A on the 4th level of blinds holding ATo, where I repopped all in on the SB after button raises. I naturally put him on a steal until he shows his AJo. So there goes my shot at the bonus, but it’s alright, I still got BD-B.

The starting chips for the game is 2000, and I was down to 450 at 50/100 blinds, which is pretty bad. I decided it’s time to play some top grade small stack poker, so I found the best hand of AJ to push all-in. I hit my top pair on the flop and it held up. Stack up to 1000. Repeating the drill, I found myself with a decent stack of 4300 after 2 more doubles. This is when it’s almost bubble time. Even with my stack, I’m still half the average count, and I definitely needed another boost. I found one when I raised preflop with AQ, and the BB called. I land AQQ on the flop, and was able to suck plenty of chips out of the guy. I was up to 8100. Continuing the salvation mode, I only made it as far as 27th out of 279, which is exactly where the money is. Overall the payout is $100 so it isn’t enough to cover the cost of the games, but hey, it’s a pretty fun ride.

Here’s what I learned from this session: (1) I’m not good in playing 2 tables; (2) poker’s fun but it’s even more fun with a bonus; (3) poker always finds a way to take my money, even when I make it to the money.

Cheers everyone, till next time.