Hand for Hand Play in Tournaments

Hand for hand play in tournaments is used when large changes in prize money are imminent, such as on the bubble.  What happens is each hand at each table is dealt at the same time.  When a table finishes the hand, it may not start a new hand until all of the other tables have finished their hands.

Prevent Stalling

Hand for hand play is used to prevent stalling.  If hand for hand play didn’t start right before the bubble, the tournament could become a stall-fest for all the short stacks who are just trying to squeeze in to the money.  Hand for hand play eliminates any advantages gained by stalling.

If the top 20 people cash in a tournament, hand for hand play may begin when there are 21 or 22 people left.  Or if there is a big change in prize money between 11th place and 10th place, hand for hand play may begin when there are eleven or twelve players left.

If two players are eliminated during the same hand, the place of each player is determined by starting chip count.  The player who started the hand with the most chips would take the higher place and the player who started with fewer chips would take the lower place.

If the two players started the hand with the exact same number of chips and are eliminated on the same hand, then they will tie for the higher place and split the prize money for that place.

If you'd like to learn about Internet Poker sites make sure to read our Poker Strategy page including sections such as Heads Up Poker and Sit and go Strategy.

Delays

In large tournaments, hand for hand play can turn into a major delay for everyone because of the number of tables involved.  Because of these delays, some tournament organizers have turned to round for round play.

In round for round play, each table plays a round of blinds (about nine or ten hands) and then stops to wait for the rest of the tables.  This removes any advantage gained by stalling while at the same time not making it such a burden on the players.

Unfortunately, hand for hand play is a necessary part of tournament life.  If you get annoyed by hand for hand play, keep two things in mind.  First, be glad that you’re not sitting with a short stack who’s taking his full time clock to make every decision.

And second, be glad that you’re even there to see hand for hand play!  If you’re experiencing hand for hand play, it means you’re about to get paid.  So don’t dread hand for hand play, look forward to it!  And while you’re at it, steal some blinds.  While everybody else is worried about not getting knocked out you can work on padding the old chip stack.  Good luck!

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