Austrian Seat For Douglas Klein

Austrian Seat For Douglas Klein

Wednesday, 25 January 2017

The Winter Poker Championship Seefeld 2017 is set to kick off from February 16 and one lucky online poker player will be taking part after winning a prize package worth $4,000 into the Austrian extravaganza’s main event at Intertops Poker on Sunday.

Douglas Klein took part in a three-tier online poker satellite series from Intertops Poker and will now compete in his first overseas tournament at the picturesque ski resort town of Seefeld, which is located approximately 16 miles northwest of the city of Innsbruck.

“With three players remaining, I flopped a set of nines against double aces and won a huge pot,” said Klein regarding last weekend’s online final of the Intertops Poker satellite series. “I had the chip lead going into heads-up so I felt like I would win. I lost one big pot but then crippled my opponent shortly after. I ended up by putting my opponent all-in with double eights. He had an ace/seven and that was it. The most exciting moment I've had playing poker and now I’m going to Europe.”

The €2,160 ($2,286) buy-in no-limit hold‘em main event at the Winter Poker Championship Seefeld 2017 is expected to have a prize pool approaching €755,766 ($800,000) while Los Angeles-based Klein, who works as a financial analyst, will be joined at the felt by Intertops Poker-sponsored player Tim O’Keefe.

“My first time over there [and] I couldn’t believe how differently they play in Europe,” said O’Keefe, who won his way into the main event of last year’s Winter Poker Championship Seefeld via Intertops Poker before going on to compete at similar events in St Maarten and Aruba. “Maybe all that schnitzel makes them aggressive. I don’t know but I’m more ready for them this year that’s for sure.”

Klein stated that he will be visiting Austria with his wife while the prize package from Intertops Poker is additionally due to include Tyrolean accommodation along with travel expenses.

“I’ve never played in an event as big as the Winter Poker Championship Seefeld 2017,” said Klein. “The biggest tournament I ever played in was a $500 buy-in with about 100 players [but] I finished on the bubble. Aside from that, I've played in several small tournaments in Las Vegas, Palm Springs and at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.”

Regarding his strategy for main event success in Austria, Klein explained that he intends to play ‘pretty tight’ during the initial rounds in hopes of maintaining ‘at least an average stack’.

“As the blinds increase, I play more aggressively and open with a wider range and bluffing more,” said Klein. “In the middle levels, I feel like you have to take chances to get chips. If I have 15 to 20 big bets and it’s close to the final table, I lower the amount of my opening raises and play aggressively in position. This strategy seems to work well. I have a decent win rate.”

For its part, the Horizon Poker Network site declared that it welcomes players from ‘anywhere in the world’ and also offers a selection of online casino games.

Video: Douglas Klein wins trip to Austria

Los Angeles-based online poker player will be at the upcoming Winter Poker Championship Seefeld 2017 courtesy of Intertops Poker.



Tags: Winter Poker Championship Seefeld 2017, Winter Poker Championship Seefeld, Austria, Intertops Poker, Douglas Klein, Seefeld, Innsbruck, Los Angeles, Tim O’Keefe, St Maarten, Aruba, Tyrol, Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Commerce Casino, Horizon Poker Network