Winning Free WSOP Seats From Satellite Tournaments
Recent poker history tells us that given enough skill and right betting strategy, everyone can win in the World Series of Poker Main event. Even you.
Just ask Moneymaker, Raymer, and Hachem. These guys earned their WSOP seats through online satellite tournaments for much much less than the WSOP $10 grand buy-in.
So for many poker players today, the strategy is to succeed at a satellite tournament and win their ticket to poker fame and fortune. But what are the correct strategy when playing satellite qualifiers?
There are three common types of satellite structures that people compete in:
Winner-take-all Satellite. This is an online tourney that awards only one seat to the WSOP.
Satellite Awards. A tourney that awards several number of seats to the WSOP. For example, CD Poker’s 2006 Main Event Super Satellites awards 1 seat for every 15 registrants. If 60 people entered the tournament, 4 WSOP seats would be given out. These satellites tend to have lower buy-ins.
Another type of satellite awards is giving away a relatively high number of free seats to the WSOP. For example, Bodog has a series of satellite tourneys awarding a total of 700 WSOP seats. These types of satellites typically have larger buy-ins.
Winning in a Winner-Take-All
The basic strategy for this kind of tourney is to bet, raise, and raise again! To win the prize, you have to win all of the chips.
Basically, you need to play smart and be not be afraid go all-in. The absolute worst thing to do is get blinded away in this type of tournament. Since you need to win all of the chips, you do not want to give away your chips without a fight.
If you’re relatively new to poker, this is the best typre of satellite to compete in.
Winning in Low-Buy-In Tournaments
Satellite tournaments usually cost around $100 to $200 to enter. These satellites tend to award relatively few number of WSOP seats because each player contributes a fairly small portion to the WSOP package.
And when few seats are awarded in the qualifier, you are still going to have to gamble. If there’s over 1,000 people enter and only 10 people will win, those 10 will need to get lucky.
You do not need a strategy to win the tournament, you just need aim to place in a spot that would win a WSOP package. In any kind of tourney the small stacks will be attacked and chewed up by the larger stacks. The key is to avoid being that small stack in the later rounds.
You want to at least have the medium-sized stack as the later rounds near, so you will not be the one your opponents will try to eliminate. So playing aggresively during earlier rounds would be good for you to win all those pots and secure a decent chip stack. If you are consistently able to steal the blinds, you have a big chance of winning that WSOP package.
Winning in High-Buy-In Tournaments
High buy-in satellites usually require $500 or more. These tournaments tend to award a larger number of WSOP seats depending on the number of entrants.
As in the the low-buyin tourneys, you will need to play agressively early on to win all those pots or steal the blinds. Youw ill need to build a big chip stack to defeat a larger number of opponents.
Having an above average stack, you will want to be contested as little as possible by other players as the end of the tournament nears. The ability to steal blinds is of high importance here.
You need to play smart and don’t lose your chips by trying to gamble your way to that WSOP package. Remember that poker is all about skill and strategy, and a very little portion of gambling. So make your move wisely and you’ll be cruising to Las Vegas in no time.
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