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I was qualified for a $500.000 online tournament which starts in a few days. The tournament starts at 19:00 and blinds go up every 20 minutes so it's a slow tournament. This means that if I'm running well it could go on deep in the night or even the next morning.

Besides having enough sleep before the tournament, what are good tips to stay fit/awake when it gets really late? Food/drinks/things to do?

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Great Question, some things that I find useful are the following:

  • snacks like sunflower seeds, nuts, or gum keep your mouth busy and help to keep you awake and alert
  • regular breaks where you get up and walk around (every level or so), also consider doing some light stretching or aerobic exercise like jumping jacks
  • play music with high bpm. I find that it helps keep me awake, but be sure to find music that doesn't distract you from playing good poker. I like techno music for this purpose because it is repetitive and keep my energy up.
  • be sure that you are in a well lit area, dark rooms can make you sleepy
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    Really like the mentioning of food here. Just as addition to that what you eat absolutely matters. Try eat healthy foods, you can google foods that help focus. Also a bit of exercise before hand in the day absolutely helps focus and clears your mind.
    – Grinch91 ♦
    Commented Oct 8, 2019 at 12:24
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    Almonds in particular are phenomenal (see "The Art of Learning" re: chess tourneys)
    – Scott Skiles
    Commented Feb 9, 2021 at 14:07
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Clarko's given some good pieces of advice.

Most tournaments give you a 5-minute break every hour, so make good use of those!

One thing I'd add is "pay attention to what your opponents are doing! Takes notes about things you see important to remember" This will make the experience much more interesting. If you just fold and forget about the tournament, you could en up getting bored!

Finally, accept the fact that your stack will go up, and down, and up again, and down again... Don't let a half-stack bad beat make you lose the other half of your stack!

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