partypoker Winners: Skyler Dyke

skyler dyck

When it comes to achievements online at partypoker, we thought we’d seen it all. But after we spotted one man snapping up tickets to the stops at our partypoker LIVE tour, all starting by spending just a single cent, we knew we had to meet him.

So scroll down for the next instalment of partypoker Winners and meet Skyler Dyck – a true master of satellite strategy.

How does it feel to have won tournament tickets to the partypoker MILLIONS at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, MILLION North America in Montreal and MILLION Sochi events?

Feels pretty good! It’s validation of the hard work I’ve put in the past couple weeks. I’ve played 7 days a week pretty steadily, up to 14 hours a day and up to 14 tables at a time.

You won all of these tickets by spending just a single cent on each, talk us through how you did that.

There are some great 1 cent buy-in satellites running every 15 minutes throughout the day on partypoker. I went 1 cent to $1.10, to $5.50, to $22, to $109, to $1,100 for partypoker Live Sochi.

Similar routes as well for the Montreal Grand Prix and DTD 200. In the larger satellites, the $22, $55 and $109, I utilised a tight image that allowed me to steal blinds and pots more effectively in the critical higher blind stages. I’ve also played for much higher stakes so wasn’t afraid to make decisions that I felt were profitable.

All stemming from a single cent each time, which is an efficient use of those pennies you may have lying around!

What are you most looking forward to when it comes to the partypoker LIVE events – is there an event you’re looking forward to in particular?

Has to be partypoker MILLION Sochi in Russia. I haven’t been to a country that doesn’t predominantly speak English before, so it will be an interesting challenge for me to get around the city and just conversing with people in general. I’ve always wanted to hit up Eastern Europe and now I get to go see some of it and play for a huge sum of cash.

For those partypoker players looking to follow in your footsteps, what are your top 3 poker tips?

1. Find and Understand Value

If there is a 1 cent tournament with 20 x $1.10 tickets guaranteed and 100 players, you have a 1 in 5 chance of turning 1 cent into a $1.10 ticket, which means 5 cents on average. That means in later stages, on average, it’ll cost you 5 cents to play the $1.10 to $5.50, 25 cents to play the $5.50 to $22, $1 to play the $22 and $5 to play the $109.

Once you understand that concept, why wouldn’t you play a $109 satellite if it takes just $5 and some time and effort on average?

Also, you can improve your odds further by picking the right time of day to play and just being a better player than average through your own study.

2. Just because you play higher doesn’t mean you can’t move down

When I started to play these 1 cent tournaments 10 days ago, my best friend criticised my decision to do so, saying I should be playing $22 or $109 buy-in tournaments.

10 days later I am up over $2,100 CAD in live tournament entries and tournament tickets, plus a few hundred cash – all from nothing but playing penny tournaments with no risk.

When you see an opportunity, put your ego aside and get to work.

3. Get in the game today!

Right now there are multiple opportunities to win many seats to incredible live tournaments around the world. But these opportunities never last forever and the best thing you can do is play as many satellites while you can. Start from a cent for maximum value. You can play in the MILLIONS tournament, where making Day 3 guarantees you a min cash of £5,000, from a penny; let alone the first prize of £1,000,000!

And winning your way to Russia, Germany, UK or Austria, how sweet is that?

Do you think satellite games require a very different strategy to regular tournaments?

Absolutely! You need to learn and understand the math of satellite tournaments, which is different from the traditional “am I getting the right price to call?” math. You need to understand when you can fold into the money, when the blinds are going up, how many chips you need to coast into a seat. You need to make your decisions more on the tournament variables than on your hand strength. Sometimes it’s correct to fold Aces and sometimes it’s correct to go all-in with any 2 cards. Understanding those situations is critical to consistent tournament success.

There are plenty of little things to learn and adjustments to make, but I’ve specialised in satellites for years and it takes time to learn them.

What do you love most about playing on partypoker?

The opportunity! It is the best place right now to try and live the poker dream.

Anyone, regardless of skill level, has an opportunity, to win their way into a big tournament. Then once you’re in a tournament anything can happen, and if it’s your day you can make more cash in one tournament than a year of work. Once you realise that the opportunity is better on partypoker currently than other online poker rooms, you’re already off to a good start.

In your finding, is poker more skill or luck?

Poker is a game of skill, with elements of luck sprinkled in.

I’ve had days where I’ve been so unlucky that it would make some people’s heads explode. But when I check my stats it’s a smooth, steady incline with minor bumps along the way. Seeing that over thousands of tournaments is very reassuring. The more you play, the more your results will tell you if you’re playing good or need to change things up.

There are so many strategies, bet sizes, recognising who’s playing too few hands and who is playing too many, plus utilising your own table image to your advantage. None of these things are based on luck, but all of them help determine your success.