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

[Bludclat]

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

Got one for you. Do you have a strategy for set types of tournaments and does this ever change during the games?

 

[Dara OKearney]

What is the solution for players who bet all in?

Learn the equity of different hands against their all in ranges.

Back when I started playing online, I specialised in single table tournaments (sit and go's). The biggest losing player on the site was an Australian guy who was down over $1 million. Then the site introduced super turbo headsup sit n go's and he moved to them. He was a massive winner in them to the point he won back all his previous losses. He was hyper aggro and crushing all the regs, myself included. After a while I worked out what he was doing different: the final blind level was bb300, starting stack was 1500, and if the stacks hadn't moved much that meant 5 bbs effective. At this point he was shoving any 2, and I suspected we were all folding too much. So I worked out what was the worst hand that had 40% equity against any 2 (the breakeven point). It was T2o!!!! We were folding Q4 etc so definitely overfolding. So I started calling T2o and better, and he stopped winning against me. The other regs followed suit and he quickly lost another million.

Ironically enough, I just published a new strategy article on how I believe most tournament players move all-in too much when ICM is a factor, and why this is a mistake: https://www.pokerstrategy.com/news/content/You-are-(probably)-shoving-too-much_132986/

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi.

In satellite qualifiers with multiple tiers, how do you balance grinding lower-tier satellites versus aiming for higher-tier tickets?

There's no quick answer, it very much depends on how significant the smaller prizes are in relation to the bigger ones, and how many there are of each, but in general:
(1) Until you get near the bubble they play more like a normal (non satellite) mtt
(2) Near every tier bubble, they play more like a normal satellite

For the new format live satellites (variously called target, milestone and landmarks) Barry and I have released a training video on the strategy here: https://simplifypoker.com/courses/target-stack-satellites-masterclass/

 

[Dara OKearney]

The main difference will be in skill level, and the degree of seriousness of your competitors. These two factors mean that at hgher buyins people will be playing closer to "correct" strategy, but at lower buyins people will happily gamble it up more.

In other news....
The rumours are true: I am now a robot

I am thrilled to bring my poker books to life on Edio, a new AI-powered learning tool!

For the first time ever, you can access all my books with chapter summaries, interactive AI quizzes, leaderboards, and even a "Doke AI" to answer your questions. For those of you who struggle to find time to study, or simply don't have the time to read the entire books, this is a simple but effective solution to get your head around the concepts I teach. It's basically an AI-powered Duolingo for poker

Doke AI will answer any of your poker related questions in terms of my own advice and learnings in the books. It is also given data on your performance on the quizzes, making it personalised to each individual.

Available now in the App store: https://apps.apple.com/ie/app/edio/id6504637708
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.edio.edio

If you don’t want to pay, you can still sign up and do one free quiz per day

 

[Dara OKearney]

I would like to know why the main prize cannot be agreed upon in the final table of the knock out tournaments

I think it can be on some sites

 

[Dara OKearney]

There is a lot to read in this section. Thank you for all the insight and personal experience . I have a beginner question, do all satellite tourneys lead to some major tournament or can you actually finish them from your comfty residence. I don't see myself travelling around at this point, but it is not like I was ever in that situation hah

Apart from purely online tournaments, some are hybrid where day 2 can also be played online

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi Dara, how are you? My question about satellites is the following. If you are playing on micro levels. Is it justifiable to play a satellite for the same value of a micro tournament entry to play a low or medium level tournament?
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer the questions from the community.

Definitely justifiable! Shot taking has a part to play in overall bankroll strategy

 

[Dara OKearney]

Have you ever attempted a reverse tell? Such as, taking a long time on the turn decision to appear weak?

Thanks, nbg

I certainly have! Two memorable ones:
(1) Irish Open about ten years ago. Swedish maniac Michael Tureniac was running over the table opening every hand so I decided I was going to 3 bet him the first reasonable hand I got, Then I picked up aces. He had quite the long tank intimidating stare, during which I tried every reverse tell in the book. He eventually shoved (results: he flopped two pair, I rivered better two pair)
(2) EPT Malta, I flopped a set against infamous soul reader Davidi Kitai. I knew he was renowned for his tell reading ability so I raised when I flopped a set and threw in all the weak tells I knew. He eventually shoved and I held

Today Barry & I launch our most advanced course yet - Post Flop ICM Simplified.

The elite have known how to play endgame spots for years, it's time for you to catch up and stop getting exploited at final tables and on bubbles!

https://bit.ly/posticm

One of my favourite things as a coach is when a student makes a big final table and wants an emergency ICM course to prepare. But like everything else in life, it's best not to leave it to the last minute! This course will give you all the tools to navigate any final table whatever your stack is and maximise your chances.
It covers every aspect of postflop ICM, like
when to play tight and when and how to loosen your ranges,
how to play money bubbles and final table bubbles,
how to play short, medium and large stacks,
how to adjust for players who don't know or don't care about ICM etc.

As with all our courses, we will be adding new material and increasing the price of the course as it grows, but all existing customers will always get free upgrades. To sweeten the deal further, there's an exclusive $200 discount if you sign up before the end of the year.

https://bit.ly/posticm

 

[Dara OKearney]

Hi, Dara, hope you are having a good time...

I'll just add a small update to my question: I started opening with x7bb and now the 68o callers are gone; rarely get a 1v1 fight; but I seem to save myself a good deal of trouble; the penultimate time I got to the bubble; what is your opinion on this… if you can, share…

This is a good exploitative strategy when playing opponents who like to call too much!

My latest article is on AI and poker: https://www.vegasslotsonline.com/news/2024/11/19/ai-and-poker-the-rise-of-the-machines/