going to play in Eureka Vienna. advice?

hi all, on Tuesday i am flying to austria with one of my friends (who isn't playing) to Vienna to play in the Eureka tournament. i seen it advertised on the pokerstars blog and fancied playing in it. the buy in is 1,100 Euros which is a lot for an online player (as currently i have 600-700 buy ins for the tournies i play in, anything higher i Sat in.) so with that logic i'd have to have $600-700k haha. but i got some of my friends and other people i knew to buy a % of me.

i have been doing really well in tourny's the past few months, moving up in stakes and getting pretty decent. however, i have only played 1 live tournament before (as opposed to 13,000 online.) i was just wondering if anyone had any tips for me? i have played a good amount of live cash, though.

i had a quick glance at the Eureka package winners to see who had qualified for it online, seen the likes of Steve O'Dwyer and other really good players had. when i play against really good players online i don't get phased at all, but i think it might be a bit intimidating as it is the 1st time. hopefully he isn't to my left! haha.

also, i don't know like anyone from live poker. so hopefully my friend rails me so i have someone to have lunch with! haha. anyway any advice/ experiences would be appreciated. thanks

Do not worry about your competition and stuff first of all. Or even the pay structure and when the day is going to finish or when dinner break is. Treat it more like a long MTT grind and keep your eyes open.

Next thing I would do is run straight to the next sunglasses shop and to your clothing shop. Get some sunglasses if you feel that your eyes can give away the strength of your hand and try to hide as much as your neck as possible (wear a scarf if you want).

Get ready and composed for the day and play some music in some earphones. Watch every hand that goes to showdown and the people at your table. And occasionally make a funky play.

I can remember a time when I was trying to steal with 52o in the hijack, small blind three bet me and I felt a strong A10+ and 99+. I was greedy, so I called. The flop came A43 rainbow and I had the nuts. I donked out for a mere one big blind. I was called and the turn was a blank and I checked. The guy bet around 55% of pot and I checkraised a bluffy two and a half times more the bet to see if opponent had an ace. I got called and the river was a blank. I shoved and I got called by AJ.

Imagine my TAG image going away that fast! Ironic thing is I got moved the next hand.

Scrover said:

Do not worry about your competition and stuff first of all. Or even the pay structure and when the day is going to finish or when dinner break is. Treat it more like a long MTT grind and keep your eyes open.

Next thing I would do is run straight to the next sunglasses shop and to your clothing shop. Get some sunglasses if you feel that your eyes can give away the strength of your hand and try to hide as much as your neck as possible (wear a scarf if you want).

Get ready and composed for the day and play some music in some earphones. Watch every hand that goes to showdown and the people at your table. And occasionally make a funky play.

I can remember a time when I was trying to steal with 52o in the hijack, small blind three bet me and I felt a strong A10+ and 99+. I was greedy, so I called. The flop came A43 rainbow and I had the nuts. I donked out for a mere one big blind. I was called and the turn was a blank and I checked. The guy bet around 55% of pot and I checkraised a bluffy two and a half times more the bet to see if opponent had an ace. I got called and the river was a blank. I shoved and I got called by AJ.

Imagine my TAG image going away that fast! Ironic thing is I got moved the next hand.

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that's some good advice, thanks
the players i usually play against at the home games i play in or the casino don't really exploit tells or put you in awkward spots so it will be a lot different from any live i've played.
haha cheeky flat with 5 2o and flop the nuts, must have been nice
i imagine the thrill of making a live final table must be 10x what it is online. also i am sure this is the 1st time Pokerstars is streaming the final table of this with Hartigan and Stepleton commentating on it if i'm not mistaken.
not that i expect to final table of course, but that's motivation

Skip the sunglasses - you won't need them.

Good advice not to dwell on or worry about the competition - just be on your A game and play your best poker.

Make a rail thread here and we will cyber rail you!

If there's more than one Day 1, you might want to choose a later one to give yourself some time to watch and evaluate the level of the competition before you play. Expect a wide range, from known pros down to people who got very lucky and won packages by surviving multiple satellite levels.

Be aware of the structure and the adjustments you should make if it's much different from what you're used to.

Focus on your table. It's easy to think about the big names, but they don't really matter unless they're at your table.

And play your game. Adapt to your table as best you can, but trying to play like you think the pros and better players do is a recipe for disaster.

If you happen to get one or more really good players at your table, watch closely for everything they do differently from you. And take every chance you can get to talk poker with players who are better than you.

dakota-xx said:

Skip the sunglasses - you won't need them.

Good advice not to dwell on or worry about the competition - just be on your A game and play your best poker.

Make a rail thread here and we will cyber rail you!

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i think i will take sunglasses, but only because it is meant to be sunny there and not for poker haha

okay thanks yeah i will try play well and just see what happens.

okay i will make a thread. think it will be a cool experience whatever happens

Arjonius said:

If there's more than one Day 1, you might want to choose a later one to give yourself some time to watch and evaluate the level of the competition before you play. Expect a wide range, from known pros down to people who got very lucky and won packages by surviving multiple satellite levels.

Be aware of the structure and the adjustments you should make if it's much different from what you're used to.

Focus on your table. It's easy to think about the big names, but they don't really matter unless they're at your table.

And play your game. Adapt to your table as best you can, but trying to play like you think the pros and better players do is a recipe for disaster.

If you happen to get one or more really good players at your table, watch closely for everything they do differently from you. And take every chance you can get to talk poker with players who are better than you.

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yeah there are two day ones- on Wednesday and Thursday. i get in to Vienna on Tuesday. and i think i might be going out drinking on Tuesday so will probably go to the casino later on the Wednesday to reg for the following day and to have a look around, as you said

thanks for the advice, i will take it all in to account. suppose it is just like an online tourny- there will be weak/ strong players, you need to assess the way the table is playing, who's tight/ loose etc. how many bb's you have etc. but it will be different because online is my comfort zone and live isn't (yet at least.)

imo the hardest part will be working out each persons stack. so much of my play online is based on stack sizes. whether or not the guy in the bb has a 20 bb shoving stack, 2 bb stack and is going to go all in so you have no fold equity, if the guy on the button has a big enough stack to 3 bet fold. whether or not i can just open shove the button with any A if the blinds stacks are 10 bb's < etc. i can see myself asking each persons stack size like a million times haha. it's easy online you can just look

Lex Veldhuis was at my table earlier tonight in the Sunday Million actually. i asked him if he was playing in this.
i don't feel i will be out of my depth at all, but it is just in terms of live experience these players will have so much more than me. but i suppose there is only one way to solve that- play live tourny's haha.

Some advice from someone who's not experienced in live tournaments.
Take good care of behaviour of players.
Some act in a natural confident way, not making mistakes in betsizes etc and feeling comfortable.
I won't say they're good, but most likely at least they have some experience.

Others might act kinda nervous, maybe first time experience, sometimes even make mistakes in betsizes, having to be told to pay blinds, accidentally acting outof turn.
These might be like me playing live.
Unexperienced and really having to focus on what's going on, just to be in time paying blinds and not to act outof turn.
I won't say they're bad players, but because of being unexperienced and nervous in live tournaments they're probably not able to play their A-game.

Maybe this makes no sense, if so take it with a grain of salt, but I'm pretty sure there will be more players like you (and me), who are not very experienced in live play and I think you will be able to spot them.

At least I want to wish you very much luck and hope you'll have a good time.

Another thing. Make sure you know the rules of poker that don't matter online because the software prevents them - like acting out of turn, string betting, etc.

10058765 said:

Some advice from someone who's not experienced in live tournaments.
Take good care of behaviour of players.
Some act in a natural confident way, not making mistakes in betsizes etc and feeling comfortable.
I won't say they're good, but most likely at least they have some experience.

Others might act kinda nervous, maybe first time experience, sometimes even make mistakes in betsizes, having to be told to pay blinds, accidentally acting outof turn.
These might be like me playing live.
Unexperienced and really having to focus on what's going on, just to be in time paying blinds and not to act outof turn.
I won't say they're bad players, but because of being unexperienced and nervous in live tournaments they're probably not able to play their A-game.

Maybe this makes no sense, if so take it with a grain of salt, but I'm pretty sure there will be more players like you (and me), who are not very experienced in live play and I think you will be able to spot them.

At least I want to wish you very much luck and hope you'll have a good time.

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thanks i get what you're trying to say

Arjonius said:

Another thing. Make sure you know the rules of poker that don't matter online because the software prevents them - like acting out of turn, string betting, etc.

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thankyou, yeah i am aware of these rules.
5 hours and i'm off

for anyone interested i came 280 something in this. i got through day 1 with almost 7x my starting stack. played really well. didn't get super tough tables. ran decent. starting stack was 20k i finished day 1 with 134k.

then day 2 i was on a much tougher table. about 4/8 of the players i felt were pretty good. and the other 4 were tighter but still not doing too much crazy stuff. i had position on 3 of the good players. and the guy to my left got kind of deflated when he folded KK on a J 8 x board v a donk bet, then he called, and then the sb (who cold called a 3 bet pre) shoved and eventually the 1st guy called. was J 10s (weird) v original raiser A Js. turn was K. also when i was sb v bb v that guy i raised 2.5x with A Ko he called. flop 10 9 x dd i bet he raised i re raised he folded. then i showed.

in general i was having to make a lot more moves to try and stay in it and accumulate chips. then the hand that ko'd me, was right on break after 2 hours of day 2. loose guy opens in co, other loose player (who 3 bet with J 7o from mp v an ep 20 bb raise, for some reason, earlier) 3 bet. it was Zimnan Ziyad i think his name is, is pretty decent. i cold 4 bet with 5's. he calls. flop 7 8 x r. i c bet small he calls. turn brick i check, he bets small i call (should have folded here.) then river J i check he puts me all in, i kind of knew he was strong bec he was kinda smiling and people never do that when they are bluffing. but at the same time his hand didn't make a lot of sense. i eventually called and he had KK. so yeah that made sense. was a good flat pre.

imo once i call turn i have to call this river. it is a good card for him to bluff. on the other hand unless he has A Q/ A 10 or pairs smaller than mines that he decides to turn in to a bluff then i don't beat much. players in general don't float 4 bet pots with K Q on boards like this.

i'm actually not 100% sure if i was ko'd here, i thought he bet enough to put me all in at this point, so i left, then after i was thinking i might have had a tiny bit left. ah well, next time i will stay 'til i've had a count.

i think pre and on the flop i was actually happy with. 4 betting here with 5's is good imo v the load of crap he's 3 betting with and how many times he's going to fold. then after i call turn i have to station every river that isn't A/ K/ Q.

ah well gg.

also going in to day 2 there were 399 left. 215 got paid. starting field was 1400 something. 250ish went through from day 1B (the one i played) and i was 24th in chips from day 1B. like 150 from day 1A. overall i reckon i was 40th-50th in chips doing in to day 2.

Awww - so close to the money! Nice run though.

dakota-xx said:

Awww - so close to the money! Nice run though.

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thanks yeah just a bad day 2 unfortunately :/

Good luck and have fun! The most important aspect in live poker (next to playing well) is to have fun The players there will not be as good as you think What is the age to play in this tournament?

BlakeBrown said:

Good luck and have fun! The most important aspect in live poker (next to playing well) is to have fun The players there will not be as good as you think What is the age to play in this tournament?

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i played in it on the 17th or 18th of last month. the age was 18 years+, which is what most of the casino's are over here in Europe