I have spent almost every night of the past 2 weeks playing live tourneys (20-40 EUR freezeouts, 10 EUR UL rebuys, that sort of stuff). Went from -200 EUR to +250, which is not bad given the ABI (around 30 EUR). I have had several heads ups, chops, splits etc, missed the final table only once.

Looks like the owners, who are just creating a Pro Team for the poker room think that my heater involves quite a bit of knowledge (which I'd like to believe is true :-)) so they want me to join the team!

Has anyone any experience with this sort of thing? Basically as I understood (though the details are vague at best as of yet), besides the usual thing like branding, traveling together etc.its some kind of poker communism - everyone keeps only a chunk (though at least 50%) of his profit, the rest goes to a pool which is used to cover expenses, buy-ins to future tourneys and most probably if we are wildly profitable, chopping the rest at the end of the year...

So - what do you think I should be looking out for to not get screwed - at the moment I am probably taking almost anything, since the rest of the team has been to multiple tourneys for years, making big cashes etc. and I have never played live outside my small local town poker club...

Thoughts?

So I lost the 4th torunament in a row against horrrrrrrible opposition (I am not kidding: they could not beat $1 SNGs on a any site. They never read any poker books (most of them doesn't even speak English to begin with). They do not have the slightest clue about basics of SNG strategy (raise/folding w/ 6BB stack, limping w/ 5 BB stack, then folding, limp/calling all the time etc). Yet I didn't have the slightest chance for ITM.

* 1st tournament: QQ vs ATo 30BB deep (I have squeezed all-in on a ton of limpers/raisers whatnot) and guy calls with ATo, rivers a straight
* 2st tournament, 25 BB deep, AA, standard raise, check/raise flop all in, guy insta snaps with 22, turn 2
* 3rd tournament 10BB deep AQ vs AJ, flops a J
* 4rd tournament: short stacking, out of 5 pushes I was dominated 4 times and pushed crap into AA the 5th time. Still had nice stack after all of this (won 2x 70/30 as the underdog, and K4o against AA flopping 2 pairs), yet I lost a flip on the bubble AJs vs TT who insta-flopped a set

Getting really frustrated (yeah, of course this is a crazy minuscule non-sample I know) - spending hours on this, playing my-A game most of the time against clueless fishes and yet I am always busting like I would in a very tough game....

I mentioned that NoIQPoker has plenty of clueless fishes... but this is a new level in cluelessness:

player 2: hello, what will we won in this tournament?
player 1: another one
player 1: go to info
player 2: I coulnt understand, my english is not well?
player 1: after results &prizes
player 1: same here i am from israel
player 2: fter another one, what will get?
player 1: u win emop sunday final 30 jan 21:30 my time
player 3: the money
player 1: before u register read ,u can play for win money
player 1: i just loss in one 200 so i come here ,mor cheap
player 2: We have to spain?
player 2: We have to go spain?
player 2: I pressed wrong tournament so I asked...
player 1: depends ,i think another emop it is with 2000package and they
player 1: hahha not if u win the entry u play here online
player 2: If we will win on sunday what will happen, we will play on
player 1: i think in internet ,i dont know that tournement
player 1: if i find i will tell u
player 2: Everybody play ut nobody know, interst,ng ))
player 1: all here r from another planet
player 1: they r not even nice ppl
player 2: Dont afraid, I wont won I think, I just wonder, please answer?
player 1: :)lol maybe u win
hero: if u win here (first place only) you enter an on-line
player 2: what are we playing for?
player 2: please answer and sure that I wont won, just I wonder
hero: a seat to the next Sunday EMOP Lisbon satellite
hero: if you get 1-4 there, you win a seat to EMOP Lisbon
player 2: after if win that?
hero: in that case you need to fly to Lisbon
player 2: Someone play over internet or will go there?
hero: if you win this, you still play the next satellite online
player 1: no no if u win u play like now virtual
hero: if you win THAT, then are you going live
player 1: only for final gran canare was to go in spaun
hero: if you win this, then you are still virtual
player 2: And I will pay to go there?
player 1: only in final
hero: gran canaria already ended
player 1: no they pay u
hero: we are playing for lisbon noe
player 1: but r u sure u go to lisbon?
player 1: O then i loss
player 1: gosh to far away
player 2: If we will in sunday they will pay us to go there?
hero: of course that's why im playin
hero: where are u?
hero: spain is not that much closer ;)
player 2: So sorry I am from Tuekey
player 1: ia m from israel
player 2: And they will pay to gop there?
hero: lot of israelis at gran canaria
player 1: yes they give u package
hero: well, neither is too far from portugal
player 2: If someone will win in Sunday?
player 1: if
player 1: but for sure not me
hero: ;)
player 1: lol
player 2: thank you
player 2: not me too
player 1: always big pleasure
player 2: ))
player 1: hahaha u r funny
player 2: Did I underdtand true?
player 2: If I will won today and sunday, they will send me lisbon and
player 1: yes
player 1: i think they pay first 3 players or more
player 2: Ok so I must won :P
hero: first 4
hero: gl korhan, go go go
player 2: first 4 on sunday?
hero: yes
player 2: Ok, so thanks for help, you are so kind
player 1: ok u win and enjoy u trip
player 2: no I am in wrong tournement
player 2: ))
player 1: :) i never dont go play live
player 1: i enjoy here virtual
player 1: i can be lazzy
player 2: So why did you join?
player 1: because i can play from my bed
player 1: no need to walk
player 1: oh bye kor
player 1: bye all
hero: bye
player 4: bye

Oh. My. God.

After playing at a few euro sites (Paddy Power, Titan, Party Poker) I thought play can be hardly worse anywhere. Boy, I am seldomly so wrong...

I signed up w/ NoIQPoker (I didn't really care about the site, I just needed the entraction network since they are organizing EMOP - but I gathered they have the highest traffic inside entraction). So my first impressions:

* Bonus & stuff: niiiice. 100% up to EUR 500, 30% rakeback, rake races, endurance freerolls, welcome freerolls etc.
* GUI: horrible. No color coding!!! No multiple info windows (so if you have 2 tables open, you can view the info for one of them at a time). However, there is a clock for the next blind level, and plenty of time to act (unlike on Titan or Party) so these are somehow making it up for this. However, no massive multi tabling will be possible (is it possible anywhere but FTP and Stars?)
* Traffic: OK for an euro site. Currently almost 10k ppl, I guess it will be much better in the evening
* SNG/MTT (I am not really into CG): Decent
* Satelites: Well, not the bee's knees due to traffic - however, the site is adding their own money to guarantee some places, which is cool (so if they guarantee 1 seat for EUR 100, and they players put together EUR 80 only, the site is putting in the rest - which is cool)
* Fishes: I have to repeat the prologue:

Oh. My. God.

Granted, I played only a few SNGs/DONs at micro stakes, but the tables were like 50/4, and usually the reg:fish ratio was 1:9 or 1:5 (ie 1 or 2 regs + fishes). Evem the guy I am calling a 'reg' was quite bad, just not as bad as the rest

Well, if the play will be similar in the satelites, with a bit of luck I might be able to win a seat...

It rarely gets funkier than this - runner-runner straight flush, to river villain's nut flush! Ouch (from villain's perspective, that is):

Unfortunately I didn't get ITM in either of them - in the first one ($20 6-max 1R/1A) I was card dead, tried to steal/squeeze here and there but almost never succeeded. When blinded down to 20BBs I tried to resteal with AJ from a maniac stealer (37/37, 70% steal) - of course he flipped AK.

Event #6 was batshit crazy (of course, since it was a 5k field super turbo with 300 chip starting stacks) - I almost busted in the first hand, going all-in from HJ w/ 66, called by Ax, but fortunately I held up. However, I busted not far from the money - all-in 55 from MP, called by AhTc, who made a flush (one of my 5s was a 5 of hearts too, so I busted with a flush!)

It was a crazy day - I went deep in a 10k guaranteed deep stack event, only to bust with AA against QQ and 66- If I would have won, it would have propelled me among the chip leaders - but whatever.

I also won a step 5 ticket so registered to the $200+16 2-day event starting tomorrow. I was really shocked how really crazy awful almost all the players were in the step 4 -> step 5 SNG - except one guy, everyone was *really* fishy.

So 3/0 ITM so far - hopefully it will change tomorrow. Rush and Turbo NLHE, and CR anniversary tourney, yay!