Poker News 
/ Dave Allan / 20 April 2011 / Leave a Comment 
APAT Champion Steph Boyd takes part in his first tournament backed by Betfair this week when he antes up in the Irish Poker Open.
We grabbed a quick few minutes with him before he flew out where we asked him about his experience in big field MTT events and his preparations for tournaments.
So you will be representing Betfair for the first time at the Irish Open. I imagine you have been to Ireland before but have you played poker there? Are you looking forward to it?
Yes I have played the Irish open twice, I didn't get through Day 1, busted set v straight against Paul zimbler on my first occasion and qq v aa against Richard Ashby, (Chufty) when we were both short last year. I really enjoy going to Dublin and playing the Irish Open always has a special feel to it.
I've been told you are flying out on the day of the tournament to avoid having a few scoops the night before. Is this a hint of a new sign of professionalism or do you always like to prepare well for tournaments? If so, how do you prepare?
My tournament preparation is usually shocking as I always see these weekends as a jolly, my main job and stress is through the week at my pc, so when I go to live events I just have a blow out. I have decided this year to change that and give it my best shot. That is the main reason why I have decided to fly out on the day of the tourney. If I did go the day before I would almost certainly get into company and have a few beers.
Are you happy that the starting stack for this tournament has been increased to 10,000 chips? For new players, how important is it to understand the blind structure and tournament rules before playing?
Oh yeah the starting stack is now 20k which is a big bonus to me, it means I can be pretty active early on and hopefully pick up a few chips without worrying about getting too low. I think new players should do as much research as they can, it can only help when they get there. For me I don't really think about structure early on as it doesn't seem too important at that stage. As the tournament progresses I always keep an eye on the structure as it can be more important to your stack then.
What is your best performance in a large field live MTT? How good are you at coping with the long continuous days of playing poker when you go deep? How mentally are you prepared to go all the way in this tournament - it will last four days if reach the final table?
I have had a few mini cashes in big MTT'S, last year in Vegas I won a decent tourney at Caesers Palace, was second at the Aria and bubbled the Venetian Deepstack (which I cashed in the year before) so I am confident if I apply myself the right way (cut out the alcohol) then yes I am capable of winning a big one.
I find the most dangerous part of a tourney is early on for me as I play short handed cash games I regularly win pots whereas in a tourney you can sit for hours without winning a pot. So patience is the key. The deeper I go the more adrenaline I will have so that will keep me motivated
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