Playing Double or Nothing with antes

[averick]

Hi, I only started playing poker half a year ago, and i've been drawn to playing the double or nothings as you only need to make it to the top 50% to be ITM. For a player like me whose strategy is probably not good enough to go deep into MTTs (best i ever got was 7/528 for a freeroll) this seems to be a easier option of earning some cash. Been playing on pokerroom and bluesqpoker, and only started tracking very recently (see below) but i would think my record is around 53-55% (based on my bankroll). I play the $5+0.50 D/N and today i tried out pokerstars. The major differences are the lower rake (by 10c at the $5 level) and the antes once the blinds go to 50/100. Just played nine games and went 3-6, although for the last one i went all-in with AQ against JK and lost to a river K, when i could have rode the game out (there were 7 players remaining and i was in 3rd). I'm not sure whether this is due to variance, or because my playing strategy is not suited to playing with antes(if they make that much of a diff) as i do not loosen up enough towards the end. Okay now to my main question: When playing in such tournaments with antes at the later stages, should i respond accordingly by loosening up my starting hand requirements? If so, loosen up by how much? With only 40-50 hands in, i also cannot make too many classifications about my opponents, and so most of the time i'd rather play safe, especially if my chip stack is average. But with the increasing antes this is sometimes too costly, especially when i'm in 5th or 6th, and sometimes i find myself in a very risky position as the blinds and antes have eaten me up too much. I think i'm more of a TAG player with rather strict starting hand requirements. All comments on how i can improve my game, with or without the antes in such a tournament are welcome. Thanks! Room Buy-In/Turbo? Ending Chip Stack Duration Position P/L Cumulative P/L PokerRoom $5+0.50/N ? ? ? 4.5 4.5 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N ? ? ? 4.5 9 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N ? ? ? 4.5 13.5 VCPoker $2+0.40/Y ? ? ? 1.6 15.1 BlueSQ $2+0.40/Y ? ? ? 1.6 16.7 BlueSQ $2+0.40/Y ? ? ? 1.6 18.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 0 0:21:30 7 -5.5 12.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 2385 0:27:00 3 4.5 17.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 4410 0:28:30 1 4.5 21.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:30:00 7 -5.5 16.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 0 0:32:00 7 -5.5 10.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:40:00 6 -5.5 5.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 2000 0:35:00 4 4.5 9.8 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 0 0:13:00 9 -5.5 4.3 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 1955 0:50:00 5 4.5 8.8 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y ? 0:18:00 4 4.5 13.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 0 0:20:00 7 -5.5 7.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 1705 0:45:00 3 4.5 12.3 BlueSQ $5+0.50/Y 2200 0:34:00 3 4.5 16.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:15:00 9 -5.5 11.3 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:30:00 10 -5.5 5.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:35:00 6 -5.5 0.3 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 1730 0:55:00 5 4.5 4.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 1275 0:43:00 5 4.5 9.3 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 3968 0:40:00 2 4.5 13.8 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 0 0:20:00 8 -5.5 8.3 PokerRoom $5+0.50/N 5590 0:47:00 1 4.5 12.8 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 865 0:57:00 4 4.6 17.4 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 1:05:00 6 -5.4 12 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 1:04:00 6 -5.4 6.6 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 4450 0:32:00 1 4.6 11.2 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 0:53:00 8 -5.4 5.8 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 0:48:00 6 -5.4 0.4 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 0:48:00 6 -5.4 -5 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 1600 0:45:00 4 4.6 -0.4 PokerStars $5+0.40/N 0 0:59:00 7 -5.4 -5.8 Edit: I've published my record on google docs cos of formatting problems: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pL6DOHqFGssTY1OCW8qiIHA&gid=0

[averick]

Re: Playing Double or Nothing with antes hmmm..no one?