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

[Chica_bonita]

Hello, Dara.
Thank you for being here and ready to help community members improve the game. 🙏

I watched the Cardschat podcast with your participation and you talked a lot about your books. I would like to read it, but it is quite difficult even with a translator, since it is a large volume and a lot of specific terms.
You wrote that some of your books have been translated into several languages. Are you planning to translate your books into Russian?

 

[kley126]

I think that most of the players who enter to play satellites play them without interest I say it because of the type of hand with which they enter a pot ... Do you have any strategy to play these types of tournaments?

 

[x patrice x]

Hello Dara,


I would be interested to know how the ranking of the hands you play in satellites changes?

Do you tend to play 'top starting hands' or are you willing to play 'marginal starting hands'?

Does anything change at all in the way you choose your 'starting hands'?

 

[FRANCODAMI]

Hello Dara!
Consult in knockout tournaments, for example: I am a leaderchip at the tables how did you avoid the temptation to pay for every all-in that they throw on the table? , because you would lose few chips but in the long run you would end up losing. thanks

 

[jaymfc]

I like satellites but there are so many different ones, to be a specialist you would prob
play a lot of different ones and win tickets to tourneys you didn't really want to play.
but depending on where you play, they must be played and sometimes you are automatically registered without an opportunity
to late register. I never won one where I could afford the rebuy in the target tourney.

so my question is: can you make money winning satellites or do you need to be an MTT specialist too.
wheres the best place to play them.

 

[kogam20590]

what live tournament did you win and where can I buy your book?

 

[stan1250]

Hi Cardschat,

I am Dara O’Kearney, known as Doke online. I am an Irish poker professional tournament player, with over $1 million in live earnings and more than $3 million in online MTTs, not to mention 8 PocketFives Triple Crowns.

I am perhaps best known for being a satellite specialist. I have won over $1 million in online satellites alone and have just written a new book on this subject called Poker Satellite Strategy:

Away from the tables I am the co-host of the Global Poker Award winning Chip Race Podcast and sponsored by Unibet Poker. Prior to poker I was an ultra marathon runner

Cardschat have kindly agreed to let me do an Ask Me Anything thread where you can ask me anything at all about satellites and tournament strategy. This will be on an ongoing basis, I’ll be checking in most weeks starting this one to answer your questions and to begin with I will be around tomorrow to answer the first batch.

Also this month I will give a free copy of my book on Apple iBooks to my favourite question, once a week for the next four weeks.

AMA


Dara

What's the best strategy when you have players that are constantly going all in, especially early in tournaments

 

[mattiebumpo]

Dara, What is the biggest mistake you see players make when playing in a satellite? (in other words, which tendencies should we best be able to exploit or avoid doing ourself?)

 

[RENEY444]

Do you ever play MTT PKOs ? That format seems to be almost the opposite of satellite theory .

 

[hjuosh]

Hello Dara. Nice to meet you. Right now I promise to look for more info about you. And about the book you wrote that you mentioned.

I think I started intuitively creating my own strategy by playing satellites, I'm going to explain what I do hoping you can correct me. The success I've had is quite subjective because I was able to end up qualifying several times on the satellite, barely succeeding in the main tournament. That has frustrated me a lot, although I still think that satellites are a good way to enter major tournaments.



Okay, first I'm looking

1.-Cheap satellites where there is little time for late registration. No more than 1 hr.

I am also looking for them to be

2.-Satellites that lead to the target directly. Not that direct you to another satellite.

3.- Satellites that have the least possible number of participants. No more than 200 players.

4.- I try to make sure that my entry is after the first break, when several players have already been eliminated.

5.- I want the satellite to have at least 2 repurchases.

 

[Marshmalo1994]

Hi Dara,

another question regarding bankroll management for satellites:.
If I usually play MTTs up to 1/100th of my BR, can I also play satellites up to the same buy-ins?

I'm just wondering because this is what I do/did but someone explained to me that it messes up my ROI figures and I should apply the BR management to the target tournament and not the satellite?

Somehow it's not entirely clear to me. 🤔

@Dara OKearney, I want to echo that question. Looking forward to your answer 😊

 

[Dara OKearney]

What cities are you hoping to visit to play poker? And when you do travel to places, do you often spend a lot of time there?

Of the ones I haven't been to yet, Amsterdam probably tops the list. When I travel, if I like the city, I try to have at least a few poker free days.

 

[Gh0stL]

Hi Cardschat,

I am Dara O’Kearney, known as Doke online. I am an Irish poker professional tournament player, with over $1 million in live earnings and more than $3 million in online MTTs, not to mention 8 PocketFives Triple Crowns.

I am perhaps best known for being a satellite specialist. I have won over $1 million in online satellites alone and have just written a new book on this subject called Poker Satellite Strategy:

Away from the tables I am the co-host of the Global Poker Award winning Chip Race Podcast and sponsored by Unibet Poker. Prior to poker I was an ultra marathon runner

Cardschat have kindly agreed to let me do an Ask Me Anything thread where you can ask me anything at all about satellites and tournament strategy. This will be on an ongoing basis, I’ll be checking in most weeks starting this one to answer your questions and to begin with I will be around tomorrow to answer the first batch.

Also this month I will give a free copy of my book on Apple iBooks to my favourite question, once a week for the next four weeks.

AMA


Dara

Hi Dara, What is your recommendation to start playing satellites, what book or video we will read or see?
Thanks for your advice.

 

[najisami]

Hello Dara, nice to have you around to help our learning process.
Q : As you know, most satellites are "Hyper". So do you chose one and play it many times or do you just play as many different ones as you can ?

 

[kley126]

What would be the best strategy when playing a satellite?

 

[Chica_bonita]

Hello, Dara. 🙂
In addition to my previous question, could you provide a complete list of books (publications) of which you are the author today (taking into account books co-authored)?

 

[ADRI7HO]

Hi Dara!
Along with your incredible streak, 8 PocketFives Triple Crowns is a huge accomplishment.
Would you like to know how difficult and time-consuming it was to get the first one, and then the rest came more easily?

 

[bsam]

Hmm havent been the soberest but now i ready to get dem monies! So since it's sattelites I assume its a softer tourney till later. IDK I jus started getting serious to learn. BE BETTER!!!!.....WUMP WUMP FOLD! Or how do they work im kinda a peon in da game low buys an freerolls deposit like 50 a month. I would rate my game at like a 7/10. Strategy hasnt been a part of my game i play my cards.

 

[FRANCODAMI]

Hello Dara! Me again, my question now is how to hold on after the bubble and not fall into constantly losing chips because I'm already in prizes. The question is how to play once you've won the prizes?

 

[ammje]

Hi Dara, what advice can you give someone who wants to play poker more seriously? greetings and good luck.

 

[nasty bent gorilla]

Are there any good reasons to open limp, first voluntary bet into the pot, in a micro stakes MTT?

 

[FRANCODAMI]

Hi, Dara. Thank you very much for being here to answer questions. Hopefully we can take advantage of all your experience, how to think like a professional player?

 

[mattiebumpo]

Hi Dara, What is the best way to evaluate the structure of a satellite? Is it the starting stack, the blind structure, the time of the levels? Do you have a formula to compare different satellites?

 

[Gh0stL]

Hi, Dará Ihave one question more, can you tell what book book I can read to start playing tournament.
Thanks for your recommendations.

 

[GARCIA PABLO DANIEL]

Hello!! pleasure to ask you!! what do you do after a tournament?

Does your family accompany you in your poker games?