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

[thehangdude]

Too late for the give a way, but I still have a question.

Tournament gives out five tickets, 12 players are left and I am in 12th. My stack is 12,000 and leader has about 30,000, so one good hand and...

I am in BB with pocket 10s. Blinds are 1000/2000 with antes and six at the table.

UTG shoves and Button (big stack) calls. If I fold, I will be down to about 9700 and be paying SB and ante next hand. If I win, I will be new chip leader. If I lose I am out.

What should I do?

I called and faced the 2nd worst scenario, AK vs QJ vs my TT. I lost.
My reason for calling was hoping to face AK vs AK or maybe Ax vs middle pair. Now I think I should have folded to get one step closer to the money with maybe two rounds of chips left.

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi Dara,

In regular knockout tournaments the bounty per player is independent of the stage of tournament. In the late phase of KO tournament it is much more important to take the best place possible and get appropriate prize than to knock out player, since in the late phase the size of KO bonus will be a very small percentage in our tournament share.

In the late phase of PKO tournament the average size of bounty per player increases significantly. Should I chase small & same stakes with bigger bounty on their head by playing in LAG style rather than proceed to play in TAG manner against all and keeping focus on stack increase that will provide me advantage further on?

Thanks.

Very good question. In the book we explain that it is the ratio of the bounty to the stack size that determines how important the bounty is. That means that a player with one starting bounty and one starting stack is the same from this point of view as a player with two bounties and two starting stacks, or ten starting bounties and ten starting starting. This ratio (which we refer to as bounty factor) rather than the actual size of the bounty determines how aggressively you should chase bounties. Any bounty factor 0.3 or less is relatively insignificant, a bounty factor of 1 is significant, and at higher bounty factors so significant than any two cards might be call.

Early on, bounty factors tend to be high (1 or greater), but by the time you get to final table very few if any of the players will have a bounty factor greater than 0.3, so ICM is a bigger factor.

 

[Navin Sarabjeet]

The usual guidelines for calling stations apply: value bet thinner and don't ever bluff. Sometimes they'll show up with a better hand that they really shouldn't have but there's no point getting upset by the bad beats. In the long term their strategy is losing unless you react badly to it.

Good luck and thanks for the question!

Thank you very much for your very valuable answer

 

[Dara OKearney]

First off love that you are so active with us Dara!!

My questions:
- What are reasonable tournaments to try and satellite into with a modest bankroll and does it make sense to go for a one satellite to get in or steps? By modest, say you have $1000 - what's a good buy-in amount to target with that bankroll? A $109, a $215, or higher?

In a PKO, how important is it to go after bounties versus playing regular solid MTT poker? Should you go after them with a slightly wider range or go really wide if you are deep in chips?

Thank you for your kind comment.

For BRM 200 buyins is normally the rough rule of thumb so with a $1k buyin you shouldn't really be playing more than $5 satellites (or any other type of mtt). Satellites have the additional headache that the prize is entry to a bigger tournament so you need to be even more prudent unless you have ways of offsetting this like selling or swapping action.

Whether you should chase bounties in a PKO and how much they are a factor depends on the bounty factor concept (explained in previous posts) rather than your own chip situation. Any time you cover someone, it's a factor you have to consider.

Thanks for your questions!

 

[ChickenArise]

Hi all - the winners of the giveaway were:

ChickenArise
RedGnom
moshie

Congrats - I have DM'd you

Thank you so much, Dara. I am sure this book will be amazing as your satellite book was. I certainly can use this and I am looking forward to diving in deep.

 

[UkoChebuko]

Thak you so much, Dara!

 

[Lugubrious]

IMO satties are a waste

I thought satellites were for people who just want to flick in a quick buck, gamble & get out. Pretty much a wast of time. I've gotten into playing some satties & won tickets so it's not like i had a bad experience with them i just have not gotten much out of playing them other than loosing a buy in or 2. Also Johnathan little said they're for rich people

 

[Dara OKearney]

I have been told a min raise pre flop is not respected in this format. What is the minimum size raise that would be respected for a chance at fold equity preflop? How is this determined?

In PKOs if you open players who cover you (and can therefore win your bounty) are incentivised to call with a very wide range. This is true even if you open larger than usual, so the best way to take advantage of this is to open a tighter high card heavy range and use a bigger sizing. It's really situational but any time you are opening a hand that will hit a good top pair you way to keep the SPR to 5 if possible so open to whatever size achieves that.

Thanks for your question and good luck!

 

[1sunchin]

Originally Posted by ChickenArise
I have been told a min raise pre flop is not respected in this format. What is the minimum size raise that would be respected for a chance at fold equity preflop? How is this determined?

In PKOs if you open players who cover you (and can therefore win your bounty) are incentivised to call with a very wide range. This is true even if you open larger than usual, so the best way to take advantage of this is to open a tighter high card heavy range and use a bigger sizing. It's really situational but any time you are opening a hand that will hit a good top pair you way to keep the SPR to 5 if possible so open to whatever size achieves that.

Thanks for your question and good luck!

Agree with you, Dara, but after 1 or 2 showdown with top cards villains probably won't to call your big open raise without strong hand. So I think we need to change size of raise up and down every time we open to confuse villains.

 

[Dealter1]

Who wanna pull the trigger?

Hi there, satellites are so hard for me, 'cuz if it's fast track, everyone goes all-in on the preflop with some hands, doesn't matter which, but, when you get AQ,AKs/o n gonna take away big pot from losers, they will relocate you with some hands, like K8o, 95s etc. So I just don't know how you win up these tours, just reply me when y'all can

 

[Dara OKearney]

How do you find 4 max shoot out satellites? Is their an optimum strategy to playing them? When the field is 16 players

These are interesting strategically because round one and round two are so different. The first round is winner takes all so it's basically cash game strategy: no ICM, take every +CEV spot. The second round is entirely different: it plays like the late stages od a satellite.

Good luck and thanks for your question!

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi Dara,

Are there any particular HUD stats you focus on whilst playing satellites & PKO?

Thanks

Very good question.

The main HUD stats I look at in both are in relation to opponent callig and folding frequencies, but ffor very different reasons.

In a satellite I'm normally trying to maximise fold equity so I'm looking for stats that will maximise this. For example when I'm in shove/fold mode I prefer shoving into blind's that have a high folding frequency. If I have a hand that plays ok as either a 3b or a flat, I'm checking the fold to 3b and 4b stats. High fold to 3b/low 4b I 3bet, the other way round I flat.

In a PKO I'm more often looking for spots and players that call too wide. So for example I'd reverse the above example: if I have a hand that plays ok as either a 3b or a flat, I'm checking the fold to 3b and 4b stats. High fold to 3b/low 4b I flat, the other way round I 3bet.

Thanks for your question!

 

[Dara OKearney]

I've been playing all kinds of poker, but never tried Satellites for real. Do you think is a good change for experienced STT/Spins players when it comes to adaptation?

Push/Fold plays a lead role when it comes to grind satellites, what do you say is the most important thing in this kind of game?

And last but not least, do you think Bounty/KO will be included in the major series around the world someday in the same proportion freezeouts and reentry are offered?

STT skills map very well to satellites, in terms of understanding push/fold and ICM. Spins not so much (just push/fold). When it comes to satellites I would say the most important single thing is understanding push/fold ranges and how they change with ICM.

I think online bounties are already a big and growing part of every series and will continue to grow even more. It'll probably take a bit longer live (they're harder to organise than regular mtts so organisers are disincentivised to push them).

Thanks for your questions!

 

[diego farfan]

What is the best strategy when entering the final table in a free satellite and micro since I always make mistakes when entering the table, he is very passive

 

[Dara OKearney]

What is you tournament strategy?

That's a very broad question, I could write a book about it

Actually I did: twice

My strategy in satellites is as outlined in "Poker Satellite Strategy" and in PKO/bounty tourneys as outlined in "PKO poker strategy"

 

[Dara OKearney]

What do you think about the high variance in the satellites? I mean if you play 2$ satellite , top 10% paid, $20 ticket, then you play $20 tournament with 1000 people. For the satellites doesn't really matters how many is the players, more is better. But this is like you play 10k players tournament with $2 buy in. Right? Is this correct!? Nobody want to play with 10k players, they will do that "only for fun", "pure gambling", "lottery", "toto". Because the high variance.

And what about the knockouts!? Yes, you will win more often "some money". But how many times you will be at the first place!? This is the only way to take the money for your head. And this is "your money", you paid for the bounty for your head. Is this correct!? Is this a "huge variance" as well!?

Soffy for my bad English. What do you think? Thank you!

Hi. You make a very good point in your first paragraph. If you are a pro, you shouldn't really be playing satellites to a tournament which isn't within your bankroll (unless you're taking a one off shot). Recreationals have a budget rather than a bankroll though so if that's how they want to spend it, why not. I think most recreationals would get a lot more fun out of playing one 10k event that they've satellited in rather than 200 $50 events.

You're also correct that bounties are very top heavy. They're weird animals from a variance point of view as essentially there are two opposing forces pulling in different directions. More players getting paid (in the form of winning a bounty) reduces variance, but the top heavy nature of them increases it.

Very interesting points, thank you.

 

[UkoChebuko]

Thank you for the answer...I can talk a lot for this bounties, but this topic is not for this, for now I don't have a question. But the short version... I think in sats and KO you have a bigger edge, but the variance is also bigger.

I readed your bio. Impressive . Thank you again for this topic.

 

[ChickenArise]

Me and my son just completed Dara's new PKO book and I am floored how little I knew about the format.

The limps with the big pairs, the strange hands people play, it all makes sense now.
This book is probably the fastest and most effective way to get up to speed and is well worth the money.

If you havent studied this format or at least read this book you are likely leaving money on the table somewhere in your PKO play.

I would like clarification on one thing my son may have misinterpreted as he turned an open ended straight flush draw multi way out of position. He was going to take the lead in the betting quoting the book to bet your draws.

I explained to him that it was implied that you do this as the aggressor but as the defender out of position in a multi way hand you would want to get there as cheaply as possible and then if you hit your draw to make sure you then got all your chips in the middle.

Can you confirm that this is in fact the case?

Also there were a couple minor typos early on in the book that I took note of and would like to relay them to you in return for your kindness in awarding me a copy if you like. Where would I send this to?

 

[Alucard]

Can you take a look at this?
https://www.cardschat.com/forum/tournament-hand-analysis-51/100-nlhe-mtt-1-5k-qualifier-463330/

 

[Dara OKearney]

Too late for the give a way, but I still have a question.

Tournament gives out five tickets, 12 players are left and I am in 12th. My stack is 12,000 and leader has about 30,000, so one good hand and...

I am in BB with pocket 10s. Blinds are 1000/2000 with antes and six at the table.

UTG shoves and Button (big stack) calls. If I fold, I will be down to about 9700 and be paying SB and ante next hand. If I win, I will be new chip leader. If I lose I am out.

What should I do?

I called and faced the 2nd worst scenario, AK vs QJ vs my TT. I lost.
My reason for calling was hoping to face AK vs AK or maybe Ax vs middle pair. Now I think I should have folded to get one step closer to the money with maybe two rounds of chips left.

I definitely call here, this a great spot to triple up, and as the shortest stack you need to find a good spot. It's a trivial fold if we are a big stack and reasonably locked up, but as the shortest stack we need to gamble.

 

[ChickenArise]

This is likely the best endorsement I can give to the power of your book. My first bounty builder bink just days after I finished reading it.

 

[Tux97]

epub format

Hi Dara,

I use Kobo so will your new PKO book be available in epub format please? If not, then any other electronic format that I can purchase directly (not kindle)? Thanks.

 

[ChickenArise]

I could have sworn I heard someone say "poker satellites are for rich people" but they didnt explain their statement which rubbed me as counter intuitive. Has anyone heard this? Is it sarcasm? Is it just something a bad satellite player might say?

 

[samsonand]

Wooo, and how did you become a specialist, friend? Some tips for us newbies, obviously studying by dedicating time, but how, where did you start, studying game styles or types of hands or strategies or where to get an idea

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[madbeeet]

Hello!) Tell us what goals inspire you to move forward?