Poker Strategy – WSOP satellites

“Satelliting” your way into the WSOP’s Main Event or into one of its side events (more and more poker rooms offer super satellites for such side events lately) is probably the best kind of approach you – the average online poker player- can adopt. Buying into these events directly costs a lot, and even if you had the money for it, you’d still have to overcome some pretty unbelievable odds to have your investment turn any dividends. The problem is, the WSOP is too much of a long-shot for an average Joe.

Fortunately, online poker satellites offer an alternative way in, and thus they’ve opened a whole world of possibilities for average players. By the time the WSOP draws near, most online poker rooms will have pinned WSOP qualifiers onto their promotions schedule. There will be plenty of opportunities, but you’ll have to do your best to optimize your chances, because not all WSOP super satellites are created equal.

Some of them feature a freeze-out format. There’s only one seat offered by these WSOP events, which means that the winner takes all. Regardless of how few players seem to play in these freezeout format satellites, you’re still better of playing in an event which offers multiple seats to the top finishers. Sign up for rakeback too. There’s no telling how many tries it’ll take you to get your hands on that coveted seat, and make no mistakes, you’ll be paying tournament fees on each and every one of those satellites. Rake back will give you a rebate on those tourney fees and it may just save you enough money to let you play in one additional satellite that may turn out to be the missing piece.

Strategy-wise, early stage satellite play is about the same as early-stage MTT or SNG play. Your primary objective is to protect your stack. Try to avoid all-in situations as much as you can and play good old TAG ABC poker which will allow you to chip up every now and then, preferably in time to keep up with the escalating blinds. The Harrington system is a great starting point when it comes to satellite strategy. Read up on it a little and you’ll see that you’ll be able to apply its teachings at the tables.

Unlike in regular MTTs though, where even past the money bubble it is in your interest to advance as far as possible, in satellites, once you’ve made the bubble you’re home free. Therefore, your only objective is to make it past the bubble. This goal requires a different kind of approach. By adding up the number of registrants and by multiplying the result with the size of your starting stack, you’ll find the total number of chips in play. Divide that number with the number of WSOP seats available and you’ll find your “magic number”. All you need to do is to multiply that by 0.75 (to take the existence of large stacks into account) and you have a stack-size which would guarantee you a seat. Once your stack reaches that size, tighten up like there’s no tomorrow and protect your chips by all means. Avoid locking horns with other big stacks at all costs. Once you reach your magic number, all that’s left to do is to sail into the harbor. Don’t let some macho bullshit sabotage your achievements.


Steve Larson, an online poker player from Canada, visit his rakeback site for more useful information.