Dara O'Kearney (Satellite Specialist) - Ask Me Anything about satellites/knockouts

[Dara OKearney]

HelLo Dara!!!
i have been playing a lot of the satellites of party poker the last few days to get in the irish opEn// mAin evENt/
i have been playing with a Dara today and yesterday??!?
could that be you???
if so i would really like to talk to you...

i really want to play ghe irish main event///
thankss for your answer!
Gaspard

Sorry I took so long to reply but yes, that would have been me, I play on Party under my real name

 

[Dara OKearney]

And if you did plAy today the sat in party poker... did you get in the main event???

Yes, I did. On your question about the Party algorithm, I'm pretty sure it's ok as it's independently certified as are all the regulated sites. But it's definitely easy to think otherwise sometimes in the middle of a run of bad beats

 

[1sunchin]

Hello Dara!

Some times ago I began playing poker stars S'n'G in Fifty50 format. Cause I'll wanted to playing DoN using strategy from your satellite book, but PS have Fifty50 only, where game stop when in play stayed half of the field(4 players from 8 on start).
But prizes structure in Fifty50 differ from DoN - half of the field will be paid $1,39 plus $0,04 per 100 chips in their finishing stack(for $1,5 buy-in).
Do you have advices for strategy change in this format?

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi Dara, my question would be mainly regarding partypoker's tournament dollar satellite format, I suppose you are familiar with it. (Although pretty similar to a normal sat I guess.) 60% of the time in the last weeks, I find myself eliminated as the stone bubble. Regardless if it is 10 players registered, 20, or 50, I am almost always one of the big stacks in the early and mid-game by taking down pots pre, and post-flop, and then when blinds start to double and it's late-stage push-fold game, I often get card dead, blinded down and can rarely push enough hands and so my position in the mtt gets downgraded to being bubble. What tips do you have in general, or in adjusting pushing and calling ranges? For example how do you adjust, open shoving and calling ranges if 5 places pay equal, and you are A, 6th out of 6th, or B, 5th out of 6 but basically equal stack to 6th, with having only 0,5-2% more , lets say 0.1bb larger stack for us? This spot just happens unbelievably often with me and I am on the losing side of a flip after pushing 80% of the time after I push on PartyPoker tournament $ sats. Any tips in general or specific? What should I analize and improve in my satellite MTT game, what to look for to do better in these sat. bubble spots? Variance is eating my roll away everytime lately with these spots, but I am sure there are also mistakes in my play to look for ! Thank you.

Hi TriszPoker,

This is a massive area and in fact most of my book "Poker Satellite Strategy" and my LearnProPoker Masterclass are devoted to it, but some quick tips and thoughts:
(1) While we all bubble satellites where we seemed to be cruising at one point, if this is happening too much there may be a few issues with your strategy. It could be that you're locking up too early and not taking some shove spots because you think you're there already: in my experience that's the most common reason
(2) Fold equity is massive in satellites, by far the most important type of equity. This is why you want to shove most or all your range near the end, and you want to shove larger stacks than you normally would. Otherwise you'll tend to blind down, and the shorter your stack becomes the less fold equity you will have
(3) It's better to shove a weak hand from late position, particularly if it has a blocker (A2o for example) than a stronger hand from early position when there are more players to get thru
(4) Who you are shoving into is more important than your actual hand in these spots. Try to shove into players you can hurt (they don't have too much more chips than you) rather than big stacks who can take the hit (or short stacks who need to gamble themselves)
(5) Conversely, if you are the absolute shortest (6/6 in your example) you are better off shoving any above average hand into the big blind of the chipleader. It being their big blind forces others to fold pretty strong hands, and even if they call you with a below average hand, well, that's the best spot you can hope for at this point

Hope this helps!

 

[tzuriel]

Hi Dara,

Is this just a cooler? Or should I just be calling and check-folding on the flop here?


Hand History driven straight to this forum with DriveHUD Poker HUD and Database Software

NL Holdem $0.41+$0.04 (600.00BB)
SB ($5369)
BB ($19034)
UTG ($34014)
HERO ($30295)
HJ ($12822)
CO ($23264)
BTN ($2675)

Dealt to Hero: J♦ J♥

UTG Raises To $2700, HERO Raises To $30295 (allin), HJ Folds, CO Folds, BTN Folds, SB Folds, BB Folds, UTG Calls $27595

Flop ($61865): A♣ K♦ 3♦

Turn ($61865): A♣ K♦ 3♦ Q♥

River ($61865): A♣ K♦ 3♦ Q♥ K♥

Spoiler

UTG shows: Q♦ A♦

UTG wins: $61865

 

[Dara OKearney]

Is there ever a situation where it would be advisable to limp from early position in a PKO. If say there is a very short stacked player with a juicy bounty in late position?

Indeed there are, and that's a good example. There are others too: for example, in EP with 88 and a short stack in BB. At certain stack depths it could be awkward to open and get threebet, and when this happens the shorty won't get involved without a strong hand, but if you limp and it sets off a chain of limps behind you and the shorty now shoves, you have a good spot to reshove. And if they don't, well, now you're set mining

One of the things I love about PKOs is there are a lot of spots like this with room to be creative.

Thanks for your question!

 

[pavel1111111]

congr....hope someday i will have a chance...gl all

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post to say my third book is now out. It's on ICM so if you have any questions about ICM or the book, feel free to ask!

https://amzn.to/39StPwK

 

[thunder_road]

satelliting into a tourney without rentry money

Dara

I play on intertops and have won multiple 10+1 tourney tickets. I don't have a big enough bankroll for any reentrys. Can you estimate how big of a strategic/equity disadvantige this will be and do you have any advice for how i should approach the tourney.

In the sattys i play i usually buyin plus immediately take a reentry(effectively buying in double for a double stack) and take the addon. Most of the other players do the same.

David

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hey Dara, Please would you tell me how to get your book on PKO. Thanks much, David

Hi David,

It's available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zXaIwf

If for some reason that doesn't work for you, it's also on Kobo and ITunes.

Best Regards,

Dara

 

[ChickenArise]

Hi David,

It's available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zXaIwf

If for some reason that doesn't work for you, it's also on Kobo and ITunes.

Best Regards,

Dara

I've enjoyed all your books. Might you be doing a giveaway on this one as well? If I win a copy I will proof read it as I did the last and send a copy of the typos to Barry for the next edition. Cheers.

 

[flail1]

Hello Dara,

Thank you for all you do for us at CC. My strategy question is about: How to play post flop against one caller and you have hit a set, but the flop is also 2 or even all 3 cards just one suit? I like to make a close to pot size bet here but if villain calls, you just almost know he is gonna run you down with a flush. Of course a paired board on the turn ends this scenario. If turn is not a club I tend to jam pretty hard out of fear I think. I hate losing a hand after making a set but I don't think my approach is the most profitable one. Appreciate your comments. Again thank you.

 

[daveshoelace]

FYI you can win a copy of Dara's new book between now and October 14 just for asking a question in this thread

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/win-a-copy-dara-okearneys-new-492507/

 

[Dara OKearney]

Thank You for awnswer, i need to check that app.

I forgotten ask one thing. If someone with stack from 5 to 15 bb jams pre flop what hands or range i call his jam ?

From my expierence i calling all in with hands 99,1010,JJ,QQ,KK,AA, AK,AQ,AJ suited and A10 Suited.

if is ok ? or to wide

It sounds about the right default but it depends on a lot of factors such as positions and how extreme the ICM is. For example, if it's the bubble of a satellite and you're pretty safe if you fold, I wouldn't even call aces. On the other hand if it's early on and it's blind v blind I'd be calling 33+ A3+ KT etc

Thanks for your question!

 

[Dara OKearney]

What's the strategy for satellites and Ko's

To answer this question fully, I'd have to write two books: wait I did!

In a nutshell though, the basic strategy is to play satellites much tighter than normal, and PKOs much looser and more aggressively

 

[Pawlowski]

Hi Dara,
Considering KO tournament, if Im not wrong, never late sign-in.
How about rebuy, makes sense...
And considering final table, play aggressive or what..

Thanks a lot and best regards,
Alex

 

[mushthebush]

MTT approach

I have a good question, Dara, and it has been bothering me a lot. It's about tournaments.

So, I play mostly tournaments, very low buy-ins at the moment (sorry, that's all I can afford) and I get in the money in most or a high percentage (>60%) of them, but I rarely get to the final table. I play tight, I don't risk much and I build the stack steadily early on to get me into the money. Once ITM, I find myself pretty low-stack and forced to push/fold and as a result, gambling.

This play is profitable as long as the amount won is 40% more than the buy-in (which it normally is). Of course, there's incentive to go for top 3 places as the profit is considerably higher. From a business point of view, constant profit is the aim and long-term it would be the correct play. It's basically Bill Gates vs Elon Musk or Coca-Cola vs Bitcoin.

What would be your opinion on this? Do you think it's a better play to get constantly in the money and once there, play a push/fold strategy with fingers crossed while praying to the Gods of poker for luck or risk more pre-ITM in order to keep building a stack, avoid the prayers' stage and have a better chance of reaching top places but with the risk of not reaching ITM.

 

[Dara OKearney]

Dara!
I have a pretty good tournament player but struggle sometimes and satellites.
I met you at the Irish poker open and I think I saw you again in Vegas but I really didn't get to pick your brain about the one most important skill to have in these satellites.
Can you enlighten me please?
Thanks Chris Read

Hi Chris,

I remember meeting you at the Irish Open!

The one most important skill is understanding how different risk reward is in satellites to normal mtts or cash, and being able to assess how different plays affect a concept I call "chance of cashing". This is explained at length in the book but I also explained it in my first video for Cardschat.

Thanks for your question and hope to see you at the next Irish Open

 

[SpanRmonka]

Hi Dara,

Do you think think there is a final table bubble that can be exploited by a larger or significant sized stack? Or even any stack if you see players tightening up again?
Lets say 15 players are paid, so the bubble has burst, but we're down to 10/11 players. I feel like many players tighten up again here, wanting the achievement of FT. The reality is the payout structure does not recognise specifically how many players actually make the FT. But there is a significant kudos earned by getting there.

Thanks
Ian

 

[LetterRip]

With 10 ticket payouts in a 100 man tournament, with 18 players remaining at 2 tables, blinds are 5 minute online. You have 8 BB in 15th place and this round has just started. This a low cost entry tournament, so about half the players clearly don't understand tournament strategy (they push far too tight in LP, they call far too wide vs both EP and LP). There is 1 30+BB stack at your table, 2 ~15BB stacks, 3 stacks similar to you (9-12BB) but slightly cover you, and 2 stacks shorter than you on your right. The short stacks and big stack seem to understand ticket strategy, as do 1 of the 15BB stacks, 1 15 BB and the 2 similar stacks to yours play as described above. What sort of adjustments should be made at this table?

 

[Dara OKearney]

Do you have any tips on evaluating the structure of a satellite to know if it is a good value/opportunity?

Very interesting question.

Broadly speaking there are three categories of satellites that are very good value:
(1) Rebuys/addons where the addon is bigger than the starting stack and rebuys but cost the same. Because of this, some players will make mistakes and effectively end up paying more per chip. The different approaches, ranked from best to worst are
(a) Buy one starting stack, don't rebuy, do add on.
(b) Buy starting, rebuy once, add on
(c) Buy starting, rebuy twice (etc. the more rebuys you end up doing the worse it gets)
(d) Don't add on (irrespective of how many rebuys you do, the biggest mistake you can make is to not add on, or drop out before the add on
Given this pecking order, optimal strategy is to max late reg to maximise your chances of not having to rebuy before addon
(2) Any satellite where a lot of the field drops out before the end of late reg. Late regging these is extremely profiable due to ICM
(3) In freezeouts, the slower the structure the better. Also the more prizes the better, as people will make bigger ICM mistakes to your benefit.

Thanks for the question, and hope this helps!

 

[BIGAUS]

Hi Dara, when it gets to the later stages of a tournament (from ITM to final table portion), I find myself struggling to put myself with a good chip stack if I am able to make the final table. If I have an above average stack, how can I best take advantage of those players who are short stacks just glad to be ITM to take their stacks and increase my chip stack rather than continuing to get drop because of blinds? Especially if I'm card dead, are there certain scenarios where you can make optimal plays? Thank you in advance for your feedback.

 

[Poma Lekain]

How to stop being bubble boy of satellite?

 

[Dara OKearney]

Greetings Dara, a serious question this time
I played a WSOP satellite for the first time at my local spot last night.
It's a 9 person sng with a starting stack of 3k and half hour levels. There are usually 3 tables and the winner from each table advances to a final sng when they get a total of 9 winners from the satellites to play for a WSOPME package. An interesting twist is the table starts with 10 stacks with only 9 players. If someone buys that stack after getting knocked out, the 2nd place at the table gets their next entry paid for.
I played semi tight as I didn't really get a lot of playable hands the first couple of hours, got a few cbets and steals in. I was sitting at 3.5 k with the blinds at 400 after 2.5 hours of play and 5 players left. 2 of the players had a stack about my size. The other 2 had accumulated most the chips. I started shoving any A or faces with no opens at that point. Is that the right strategy or should I still play a tighter game and hope the other 2 stacks get knocked out before I do? Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.

Do I understand correctly that there's only one prize (for the overall winner of the final table)? If that's the case, then the optimal strategy is just to play for chips like in a cash game (there's no ICM): this is always the case in winner takes all.

If I misunderstood, let me know

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hello Dara!

Some times ago I began playing Poker Stars S'n'G in Fifty50 format. Cause I'll wanted to playing DoN using strategy from your satellite book, but PS have Fifty50 only, where game stop when in play stayed half of the field(4 players from 8 on start).
But prizes structure in Fifty50 differ from DoN - half of the field will be paid $1,39 plus $0,04 per 100 chips in their finishing stack(for $1,5 buy-in).
Do you have advices for strategy change in this format?

Very interesting question: essentially these are two tournaments in one, and depending on your stack that dictates which of the two influences your strategy more.
(1) When you have a very big stack meaning you're almost certain to make it, it plays a more like a normal cash game than a satellite. The bigger your stack is, the more true this is
(2) With a very small stack it plays much closer to a normal satellite, as most of your equity is your chance of cashing.
(3) Medium stack falls somewhere between the two

Since stacks will be spread, who you play against matters. A big stack playing against another big stack has to be cautious, but a big stack playing against a small stack can be more aggressive.

Thanks for your question!