Every Wednesday at 21:00 ET, players can join the Wednesday 1/4 ... more]]> To put the massive size of PokerStars into perspective, consider this: While Sundays are the “big” day at every room, PokerStars has gotten so big that they can run a weekly tournament on a Wednesday that challenges many Sunday tournaments.

Every Wednesday at 21:00 ET, players can join the Wednesday 1/4 Million for a direct buy-in amount of $300+20. If the direct buy-in is too much for you, you can win a seat through one of the satellite tournaments that start for as little as $6.60.

Tournament Structure

The structure of the Wednesday 1/4 Million is set up to give players enough breathing room with deep stacks and slow blinds. Players start with 3000 chips and the blinds go up every 20 minutes. This gives better players enough time to be patient and wait for good spots. There are no rebuys or add-ons, and registration stays open for 60 minutes after the tournament begins.

The Wednesday 1/4 Million generally attracts 850-950 players, with a top prize in the $46,000 – $55,000 range.

Wednesday 1/4 Million Satellite Tournaments

For $6+.60, players can join multi-table satellite tournaments that run all day and night. In the satellite tournaments, players receive starting stacks of 1000 chips, and the blinds go up every 5 minutes. Rebuys are also available and they give players an additional 1000 chips for $6. There is also a 1500 chip, $6 add-on available during the first break. One player for every $320 in the prize pool wins a seat into the Wednesday 1/4 Million.

There are also $20+2 multi-table satellites available, and these run 24 hours a day as well. The blind structure is the same as the $6.60 satellites, with 1000 chip starting stacks and 5 minute blind levels. For $20, players can rebuy an unlimited number of times within the first 30 minutes of the tournament. Rebuys get you an additional 1000 chips. At the 30 minute mark, players can also add-on 1500 chips for $20.

So, if you’re looking for some big tournaments to play in during the week, this is the best place to start. Weekends are even better and include the massive Sunday Million.

Before you head over to play, write down the PokerStars marketing code PSP11467 and Pokerstars bonus code Stars600. These will allow you to get the $600 bonus for new players.

PokerStars Wednesday Quarter Million Quick Stats

When

Every Wednesday at 21:00 ET

Buyin

$300 + $20

Prize Pool

$250,000 +

1^st Place Prize

About $50,000

Average # of Entrants

About 900

Starting Chips

3,000

Top Places Paid

1^st through about 105

Quarter Million Prize Money

Here are the top 5 results from a recent PokerStars Quarter Million event. No two tournaments are ever the same but these numbers should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

1^st – $48,979
2^nd – $35,178
3^rd – $26,384
4^{th –} $19,754
5^th – $13,963

Back to Online Poker Tournaments

Double ... more]]> Party Poker Double or Nothing Sit and Gos have become extremely popular over the past few months. If you’renot familiar with Double or Nothing tournaments, they are just single table tournaments in which the top 5 players get their buyins doubled and the bottom 5 players go home empty handed.

Double or Nothing tournaments don’t have the massive prize pools that you commonly see with other tournaments but they are an awesome way to double your money. They don’t take long to play, the competition is easy and there is a lot less stress involved in playing Double or Nothing SNGs. I’m surprised nobody thought of these earlier!

Once you get the hang of these tournaments, there’s some good money to be made. The strategy for Double or Nothing SNGs is pretty simple so they can be multi-tabled with ease. On top of that, you’ll earn a lot of frequent player points with these.

Buyins

Party Poker holds Double or Nothing SNGs at several buyin levels:

$5 +$1

$10 + $1

$30 +$3

$50 +$5

If you’re looking for Double or Nothing tournaments at lower or higher levels than these, I recommend you give PokerStars a try. They have Double or Nothing tournaments at almost every buyin level.

Build Your Bankroll with Double or Nothing SNGs

The Party Poker Double or Nothings are a great way to build your bankroll because they are more dependable sources of money than regular tournament play. That doesn’t mean they are guaranteed money by any means – it just means that if you’re a winning player, you’ll experience fewer rollercoaster swings with Double or Nothing SNGs than with traditional tournament play.

They are also good for building the bankroll because it’s easy to play a lot of these things in a single session. That will help you earn frequent player points even faster, which can then be traded in for cash prizes and free tournament tickets.

Rake

The rake for Double or Nothing SNGs at Party Poker runs at about 10% unless you play at the $5 level. In that case, the rake is equal to 20% of the buyin fee which is a little hefty. The $5 SNGs are easy but the extra rake almost makes them not worth it. If you’re determined to play $5 Double or Nothings, I recommend PokerStars once again.

Used at the right time, however, the squeeze play is ... more]]> The Squeeze play is an advanced bluff that you can use in both tournament poker and no limit cash games. It’s a powerful move but like all powerful moves, it comes with a significant amount of risk, especially for tournament players.

Used at the right time, however, the squeeze play is a great way to add a lot of chips to your stack. It only takes one successful squeeze play to turn the tide of your tournament or add to your win rate in cash games.

Mechanics of the Squeeze Play

The squeeze play is implemented during the preflop betting round when one player has already raised and one other player has called that raise. This is when you come in with an even bigger raise and steal the pot from both players.

Example:

In a no limit Holdem tournament with 75/150 blinds

Player 1 raises to 450

Player 2 calls 450

You push all-in for 3,500

Players 1 and 2 fold and you collect 900 chips plus 225 chips from the blinds.

You just increased your chip stack from 3,500 to 4,625 with a single move.

You can also use the squeeze play in cash games but that requires an even more delicate touch. The difficulty in cash games exists because the blinds are a lot smaller in comparison to the stack sizes.

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Why It Works

When the squeeze play is successful, it’s because your raise says you have an extremely powerful hand. One person has raised, another person has called that raise and you’re so confident in your hand that you’re willing to push all-in on top of that with an even bigger raise.

The original raiser could have any number of hands but the player in the middle has told you something with his call. He thinks he has a decent hand but it’s nothing great or else he would have raised instead of called.

Your big raise puts pressure on both of the opponents. The original raiser has already been called by one person and re-raised by another. If he doesn’t have a really strong hand, there’s not much  he can do he except fold. The person in the middle feels the pressure because he probably has a mediocre hand (refer to the above paragraph) and can’t call your all-in raise.

The cards in your hand don’t matter a big in the squeeze play. In fact, it’s assumed you don’t want a call, or else it wouldn’t be called a squeeze play; it would be called a value raise.

When to Use the Squeeze Play

You have to pick the perfect spots to use the squeeze play or else it’s just going to cost you a lot of money. There are four conditions that should be in place before you use the squeeze play:

1. The original raiser is a player who raises more often than most players

2. The person who called the raise knows how to fold

3. You have a tight table image

4. Your stack is big enough to get folds

You want the original raiser to be a loose raiser because it means he is more likely to hold a hand that will fold to your squeeze play. But you don’t want him to be so loose that he’ll call with anything. The reason you don’t want to try this against a tight player is because it means you’re more likely to be up against a legitimate hand.

The player caught in the middle has to be just the right type of player as well. He has to be smart enough to fold to a big raise but he can’t be so smart where he recognizes the squeeze play for what it is and snaps off your bluff.

You have to have a tight table image because you want your raise to actually get a little respect. If you have a loose image, people are just going to think you’re trying to steal the pot again and they’ll be much more likely to call your raise.

And last, your stack needs to be big enough that it makes people think twice before calling. If you’re short-stacked in a tournament and your raise is only double or triple what the opponents have already put in, they’re going to call you without even blinking an eye. Your stack needs to be big enough to where it could do either one of them some serious damage if they call and lose.

Suited connectors don’t make strong hands very often, but when they do hit hands, they will surprise the ... more]]> Suited connectors are pretty hands but they are easily overvalued by newer players. The problem with suited connectors is that they don’t result in big hands as often as we’d like to think.

Suited connectors don’t make strong hands very often, but when they do hit hands, they will surprise the pants off your opponents. For suited connectors to be profitable hands, a number factors need to be in place:

1. You need to be in late position

2. There should already be several people in the pot

3. You need to be able to get into the pot cheaply

4. The average stack size of the people in the pot should be 70 big blinds or larger

If you wait until these factors are all in place, your profits with suited connectors will soar. You need to get in cheap but still have the chance to take home a large pot. With several people in the pot with large stacks, it becomes more likely that you’ll get action from someone.

It requires patience to play suited connectors properly because it’s not often that all the above factors line up when you have a suited connector. That’s where a lot of people go wrong; they don’t want to wait for the right situation to play these pretty looking hands.

About Position

The problem with playing suited connectors from early position is two-fold. First of all, you don’t know what your opponents are going to do behind you. The big stacks might all fold or something might put in a big raise. In both cases, you just played a suited connector for no reason.

Even if you do get lucky and get in for cheap from early position, you’re still going to have to play the rest of the hand while acting first on every street. Any draws you happen to catch are going to be very difficult to chase profitably. Had you been in late position, it would have been much easier to judge your pot odds with everyone else acting before you.

Multi-way Pots

Having several people in the pot with you will make your suited connectors more profitable for two reasons:

1. You’ll be more likely to get good odds to chase your draws

2. It’s more likely you’ll get action when you catch a strong hand

With several people in the pot, you’ll get good odds on any draws you hit because the pot will be large compared to the average bet size. Let’s use two examples:

Example 1: You’re in a $100 pot with 3 other people. If one person bets $50 and two other people call, you’re going to be getting $250 to $50 (5 to 1) on your draw.

Example 2: You’re in a $100 pot with 1 other person. If he bets $50, you’re only going to be getting $150 to $50 (3 to 1) on your draw.

As you can see, the drawing situation is a lot better when there are other people in the pot. If you played the hand from late position like you should have, you’ll be able to call those bets without worrying about people behind you making big raises.

Even when you do hit a hand with a suited connector, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to make money with it. You need to get someone else to put money in the pot with you. With more people in the pot, you will be more likely to get action from one of your opponents.

Getting In Cheaply

It’s important to only play suited connectors when you can get in for a cheap price. All those raises you call with suited connectors add up over time. Before you know it, all that money can totally devour any profits you might have made with your suited connectors.

It doesn’t seem like much money at the time but you have to realize that in the long range, the money you spend seeing flop drastically impacts your earnings with suited connectors.

The only time you should call a raise with a suited connector is when several other people with large stacks have already called that raise. And every once in a while you can call a preflop raise with a suited connector if you’re playing in a heads-up situation and are planning to steal the pot after the flop.

Stack Sizes

You should only play suited connectors against opponents with large stacks. There’s no point in spending the money if the amount you can win from that opponent is severely limited. Save the cash for when you’re up against someone who has a lot of money to lose.

Read more about building pots with made hands here

Going All-In

In tournament situations, suited connectors are sometimes good hands to make a last ditch effort. If you find yourself extremely short stacked without a lot of time to look for a strong hand, suited connectors are decent hands push all-in with.

Hopefully you’ll just fold everyone out and get the blinds but if not, your suited connector stands a decent chance. Against big pairs like AA and KK, a suited connector stands the best chance of causing an upset.

On top of that, both of your cards will probably be live. What I mean by “live” is that your hand won’t be dominated by another hand that has the same cards in it. If you go all-in with A7 and someone calls with AK, your ace outs are worthless. With a suited connector, you’ll have a slightly better chance.

You can buy in directly ... more]]> The Full Tilt 750K Sunday Guarantee is the biggest weekly poker tournament you’ll find at Full Tilt Poker. It runs every Sunday at 18:00 ET and guarantees a $750,000 prize pool or greater every time. Once a month, the tournament is held with a $1,000,000 guarantee.

You can buy in directly for $216 or win a free entry via satellite tournaments that start out for as little as $2.25 or 300 Full Tilt Points. No matter how large or small your bankroll is, the Full Tilt 750K guarantee is definitely worth a look. A first place finish in this thing will net you about $132,000.

750K Guarantee Quick Stats

When

Every Sunday at 18:00 ET

Buyin

$216

Prize Pool

$750,000+

1^st Place Prize

$132,000+

Average # Entrants

About 4,000

Starting Chips

3,000

Top Places Paid

About 520

Satellites

Buyins start at $3.25 or 300 FTPs

Length of Time

About 9 hours from beginning to end

750K Guarantee Prize Money

It doesn’t take a first place finish to take home a nice chunk of money in the Full Tilt 750K guarantee. With a prize pool of three quarters of a million, there’s plenty of money to go around. Here are the results of a recent 750K final table:

1st:       $132,787.50

2nd:       $80,250

3rd:       $52,500

4th:       $41,400

5th:       $31,050

6th:       $23,025

7th:       $17,250

8th:       $13,500

9th:       $10,050

Ready to Give it a Shot?

Click here to visit Full Tilt Poker and get started today. Make a deposit now and register for the next tournament or try your hand at any one of the satellite tournaments that run all week. The 750K offers life changing money to poker players every week. What would you do with an extra $130,000?

Use the bonus code HOOKMEUP when you sign up to get a 100% deposit bonus for up to $600 extra.

Satellite Tournaments

You can find satellite tournaments running all the time for the 750K Sunday Guarantee. Just open up the poker lobby, visit the “Tournament” tab and then click on the “Satellites” tab to find a list of all upcoming satellites. You can get started for as little as $3.25.

Satellite Tournaments Explained

Satellite Tournament Strategy

Full Tilt $1 Million Monthly Guarantee

Once a month, the 750K Guarantee is replaced by the Monthly $1,000,000 Guarantee. The prize pool is even bigger (sometimes it reaches $1,500,000) but the buyin is bigger too at $500 + $30.

The good news is that there are just as many satellites for the Full Tilt Monthly Million as there are for the 750K Guarantee. If you don’t want to buy-in directly, you’ll find plenty of satellite tournaments at Full Tilt. You can get started for as little as $1 or 50 Full Tilt Points

A recent winner of this tournament took home $296,775.38.

Get Started Now at Full Tilt Poker

Its $215 buyin might be steep by some standards but it’s ... more]]> The PokerStars Sunday Million is the largest regular poker tournament on the internet by a long shot. With a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1,500,000, someone takes home a first place prize of $225,000 or more every single Sunday.

Its $215 buyin might be steep by some standards but it’s not too bad considering the prize pool is never less than a million and a half dollars. And even if $215 is too much of a strain on the bankroll, there are still satellite tournaments that run every day with entry fees that go as low as a few Frequent Player Points (FPPs).

Sunday Million Quick Stats

When
Every Sunday at 16:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

Buyin
$215

Prize Pool
$1,500,000+

1st Place Prize
$225,000+

Average # Entrants
About 7500

Starting Chips
10,000

Top Places Paid
1st through 1080th (Note – this can vary based on # of entrants)

Satellites
Buyins start at just a few dollars or FPPs

Length of Time
About 9 hours from beginning to end

Sunday Million Prize Money

The first place finisher in the Sunday Million isn’t the only person to win life changing money at this event. Here is the payout structure for the final table from a recent tournament:

1st:             $225,000
2nd:           $165,555
3rd:            $120,000
4th:            $79,500
5th:            $61,500
6th:            $46,500
7th:            $32,250
8th:            $18,000
9th:            $11,625

Get Started Now

Visit PokerStars to download the software and create an account. When you make your first deposit, use the bonus code Stars600 to get up to $600 free. After that, you can buy in directly or play at any of PokerStars’ many satellite tournaments.

Satellite Tournaments

If you don’t want to pony up $215, there are plenty of smaller tournaments out there that give away free entries to the Sunday Million in the place of normal cash prizes.

Open the PokerStars software and click on the “Tourney” tab to see a list of tournaments. Inside there, click on the “Satellite” sub-tab to see a list of all upcoming satellite tournaments.

More about satellite tournaments

Satellite tournament strategy

Deal Making

One of the reasons PokerStars is the king of tournaments is because it was the first poker site to include a deal-making feature in its software. If any of the players at the final table decide to cut a deal instead of playing all the way to the end, they may set the terms and the software will automatically divvy up the prize money.

Anyone can make a deal at the final table but the players must always leave at least $30,000 in prize money in play. This way the tournament never ends without a final champion.

Basic Sunday Million Strategy

The biggest difference between the Sunday Million and most online poker tournaments is how many starting chips you get. With 10,000 in starting chips, this is one of the deepest tournaments you’ll find anywhere.

The key to playing in deep stacked tournaments is to focus on making smart post-flop decisions. Pre-flop decisions are still important but post-flop skills are crucial. In a deep-stacked tournament, you have to be able to fold after the flop if things don’t look good.

In middle and late position, small pocket pairs can be a blessing if the pot odds are right. The big stack sizes make it worth limping in occasionally in the hopes of hitting a set and breaking someone.

You should also be more cautious about going all in before the flop with deep stacks. Unless you’re up against a maniac, the only hands you should be willing to get all in with are AA and KK.

More tournament strategy

Other Big Sunday Tournaments

You would think PokerStars would be satisfied to have the biggest Sunday poker tournament in the world but that’s not the case. In addition to the Sunday Million, PokerStars also runs the following two tournaments:

Sunday Second Chance

The Sunday Second Chance has a buyin of $215 and it has a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000. You can find it at PokerStars every Sunday at 18:30 ET.

Sunday Warm-Up

The Sunday Warm up has a $750,000 guaranteed prize pool and it runs every Sunday at 12:45 ET. The buyin is still just $215.

Visit PokerStars now

In depth explanation of Double or Nothing ... more]]> Double or Nothing SNGs are a relatively new form of poker that you can find online at PokerStars. The general idea is that 10 players join the tournament and the top 5 players double their money. The other 5 players go home empty handed

In depth explanation of Double or Nothing SNG Tournaments

Basic Strategy

Double or Nothing tournaments should be approached with a very tight early stage strategy. Your goal is not to take first place so you don’t need to win every chip in play. All you have to do is outlast 5 of your opponents.

You should stick with only the very best starting hands and play them hard when you get them. If you hit a strong hand on the flop, bet it hard so that you don’t give your opponents a chance to draw out on you.

An early double up will almost guarantee you a cash in a Double or Nothing SNG but it’s not necessary to double up to win. You can easily sit tight, steal a few blinds when there are only 6-7 players left and coast in to the money.

In these kinds of tournaments, you can’t look at your odds of winning and make big calls just because the pot odds dictate it. Instead, look at how each option you have affects your odds of winning the tournament.

Let’s use an example to illustrate this point: Let’s say you’re 2nd in chips with 6 players left in an average Double or Nothing SNG. There is one player with a massive chip stack and 4 other players with short stacks.

Now let’s say you catch a strong hand in the Big Blind – something like top pair plus a flush draw. The chip leader has been playing aggressively and he takes a stab at the pot. You know you probably have the best hand but is it worth fighting for it?

You could very easily lose this pot and get knocked out of the tournament. With 4 desperate shortstacks remaining, you’re almost guaranteed to cash if you just sit out and fold until one of them busts out.

Instead of looking at how each option you have affects your odds of winning the pot, look at how it affects your odds of winning the tournament.

Always note the stack sizes

Stack sizes are even more important in Double or Nothings than in regular SNGs. When it gets down to the bubble, your decisions will be greatly affected by the size of your stack compared to the size of the other players’ stacks.

For example, if there are 6 players left and 3 of them have very low stack sizes, you should be extremely reluctant to enter a pot without the absolute nuts. On the other hand, if you’re a short stack, you’ll want to take advantage of everyone tightening up and steal a few blinds.

Early Stage Strategy

Play super tight early on and use this time to watch the other players at your table. Note who is also playing tight and avoid these players later in the tournament. There is no reason right now to get involved with anything less than super premium hands.

Middle Stage Strategy

The antes will start to kick in during the middle stages so you’ll have to start stealing occasionally to stay ahead of all the blinds and antes. Steal from the players who play super tight and avoid the big stacks.

It’s important that you don’t let yourself become the short stack during this part of the tournament. Steal when you can get away with it and keep up the pressure on the tight players.

You really shouldn’t play any pots here unless you catch a strong hand or a lucky hand in the big blind. The more pots you can win without a showdown, the more likely you’ll be to cash.

Late Stage Strategy

The late stage begins when there are only 6 players remaining in the tournament. At this point, the play will tighten up considerably as everyone waits for one more player to bust out.

Hopefully you won’t be short stacked at this point but if you are, you should be able to find some opportunities to steal. The only thing working against you is that you’ll be a target for the big and medium stacks looking to end the tournament.

Double or Nothing Bankroll Recommendations

I’ve always been extra conservative with my bankroll so take these figures with a little grain of salt. If you are a wining player and want to be completely sure that you never have to reload with these, you should use a 100 buy-in bankroll.

The higher your winrate is, the lower a bankroll you can get away with. After about 2,000 tournaments, you’ll have a pretty safe idea of your true winrate. If you’re cashing in anywhere from 50% to 60% of these tournaments, 100 buyins is the right bankroll for you.

It’s possible to play these with a smaller bankroll but just know that you’ll have a greater chance of going broke if you hit a bad run of cards. No matter how great you are, the occasional downswing is inevitable.

Top 3 Poker Sites for Double or Nothings:

#1. Best Poker site for double or nothing SNGs: PokerStars

PokerStars has a ton of double or nothing poker tournaments at all stakes. The competition is easy and you’ll never run out of tables. Use the bonus code Stars600 for a $600 sign up bonus.

#2. Runner up poker site for double or nothing SNGs: Titan Poker

Titan Poker does not accept players from the US but if you live anywhere else, this is an awesome site for double or nothing SNGs. The competition is even easier here than at PokerStars. Use the bonus code FirstBonus to get a $500 deposit bonus.

#3. Next best site for double or nothing SNGs: Party Poker

Party Poker is the easiest site out of the three on this list. It doesn’t have quite as many tables as the top 2 sites but there are still a ton of fish to play against. If you sign up today and use the bonus code EASYMONEY you’ll get up to $500 added to your first deposit.