A satellite can be a fairly useful thing but for poker fans, it provides a gateway to a new world. And this is not through the ability to watch more poker events on foreign TV channels; it is to do with the ability to play your way into one of the major poker events of the world. When it comes to work poker events, the World Poker Tour obviously stands out and it is possible to play your way into contention at a World Poker Tour event by qualifying through the satellite route.
As you know, there are many online poker sites to choose from but some players will base their decision on what site to use depending on what satellites they offer. There are some sites which have an affiliation or link to certain events and they will regularly host satellite tournaments which allow players to play for the opportunity of gaining a seat at a major event. This is where your World Poker Tour bonus code can have a great impact as this is a site where you can gain access to some of the hottest events on the World Poker Tour circuit.
What a way to get to a major event
Each event and site can have their own rules on how they run satellite tournaments but they all provide a great way to get to an event. Some of the satellite tournaments can be entered for free but there will be a requirement to play a lot of poker before you get to the final stage to book your chance at a big event.
Satellite poker tournaments are generally identical to regular tournaments, with one crucial difference: Instead of awarding cash as prizes to the top finishers, satellite tournaments primarily award seats to more expensive tournaments. Here's a quick example that will help to illustrate how satellites work. Best Online Poker Sites for Satellite Tournaments. What is a Satellite Tournament? Satellite poker tournaments are generally identical to regular tournaments, with one crucial difference: Instead of awarding cash as prizes to the top finishers, satellite tournaments primarily award seats to more expensive tournaments.
Even if the satellite event requires a buy-in fee, it will be for a much smaller price than the buy-in for the actual event. For instance, a $100 buy-in for a satellite event may sound like a lot of money but if the actual buy-in for the WPT event is $1,000, it is easy to see the scope for making a great saving. Add in the fact that many satellite winners are rewarded with travel, accommodation and even spending money for their trip and it becomes obvious that playing your way to poker success with satellite tournaments is a great way to get involved at a major event.
Can you be the next rags to riches story?
There are some rags to riches stories of satellite players making their way all through a tournament with the most famous story of all being Chris Moneymaker who turned his initial $40 buy-in into the $2.5m first prize. That is not the sort of story that happens every day but it does allow people to dream of what could happen and given that the buy-in price for these satellite events is reasonable, many players are willing to take a chance. After all, successful poker can rely on making the most of your bankroll and taking this chance is not something that seems too stretching for many poker players.
When it comes to WPT events, there are a number of great satellites that players can take a chance on winning. The WPT has added a more European flavour to its calendar in recent seasons and even the tail end of the 9th season features some big European dates. Vienna and Bratislava are two stunning cities to visit but for poker fans, the only attraction they will want to see will be the final table at these two events. The WPT Vienna and WPT Bratislava events are eagerly anticipated and players that have won through to these events by playing through a satellite event have had even more reason to celebrate. Not only have they triumphed over a number of other poker players, they have the chance to face off against some of the biggest names in world poker. It is not always about the money and having the chance to pit poker skills against the best in the business is something that most people dream of.
Being given the buy-in opportunity, accommodation, travel and spending money to make the most of your time in these wonderful cities means that there is so much to gain from entering satellite tournaments that it is a surprise that more people do not enter them. Yes, they are hotly contested but with the right conditions and attitude, every player could say they are in the frame to win the prize. There is also the added bonus that these satellite events will often send more than one lucky winner to the tournament, providing a greater incentive to play the satellite events.
The beauty of poker lies in various types of tournaments that bring all kinds of rewards for the best participants.
One of the most lucrative tournaments among online poker players is the so-called “satellite tournament“.
Essentially, satellite tournaments do not offer money as the final prize.
Instead, they provide an entry for another tournament which usually requires a much higher buy-in. This is a perfect opportunity for people who play poker and are on a budget to experience the atmosphere of big live poker competitions.
In this article, I’ll cover some of the burning questions related to satellite tournaments and explain their very nature. Some of the things you’ll learn about them are:
Should You Play Satellite Tournaments?
Contents
- How to Apply for a Satellite Tournament?
- Pros and Cons of Satellite Tournaments
Satellite Poker Tournaments Wsop 2019
Before you even buy yourself a seat at a satellite, you need to ask yourself the following question — what do I want from poker?
There are many reasons why people play poker. Some want to earn real money, others want to test their skills, and some just want to have fun.
If you are looking for a quick buck and poker is your side hustle, don’t bother applying for satellites at all. Even the fast-paced ones tend to last longer than usual, and the final prize is not even cash. Although you might end up winning a pile of money if you do well in both the satellite and the target tournament (which was awarded via the satellite), you need to devote a lot of time and energy without earning any cash in between.
On the other hand, if your goal is to have fun, test your poker skills, and meet new people, then satellites are a perfect opportunity for that. In that case, make sure to read on how to apply for a satellite.
How to Apply for a Satellite Tournament?
First of all, you need to find an online poker platform that offers a satellite tournament. Make sure to check out our selection, as several sites we feature include this type of competition.
Once you select a platform, navigate to the poker section (if a platform offers other gambling sections), and open an account.
Next, select your preferred payment method, use it to deposit money, and browse available satellite tournaments. Please take into account that some sites simply don’t have any contests of this kind available at the moment, which doesn’t mean they don’t offer them at all. In other words, you might need to check some sites from time to time in order to “catch” a satellite tournament.
You need to pay attention to several essential things when choosing an ideal satellite tournament.
# The Final Prize
Make sure that the final prize is a seat at a tournament you can actually attend. Many players apply for satellites that take place in some areas that are geographically far away from them. If you are in the US and the tournament is in the UK, make sure that you can afford to go there. Winning a satellite and not being able to make it to the tournament which was awarded to you as a prize is simply depressing.
Some prizes include a paid plane ticket and accommodations, while others just pay for a seat at the target tournament. That’s a very important thing to check, especially if you are on a budget and cannot afford flying half the world to play a high buy-in tournament.
# The Buy-in Amount
Some satellites have higher buy-ins, others come at a more affordable price. It’s up to you to make a selection based on your poker budget and your personal preferences.
What I’m trying to say is that you shouldn’t pay a higher buy-in price for a satellite that awards a seat at a tournament that you don’t even want to be a part of.
Best case scenario — you get to pay a very small prize and win a seat at a tournament you’ve always dreamed of playing.
# The Duration
You want to make sure what type of tournament you play in terms of duration. Some last for quite a while, others, such as super-turbo ones, are pretty quick. If you are confident about playing the turbo ones — go for it. On the other hand, if you don’t have experience playing such quick competitions, try finding normal-paced ones.
# Other Specifications
Finally, you need to pay attention to other important things that you would consider when applying for any tournament, such as type of poker (< href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_hold_%27em'>PLO, Hold’em, and so on), stack sizes, level duration, additional awards, and more.
Tips and Tricks for Playing Satellites
Let’s take a look at some important tips & tricks that can enhance your satellite experience:
- Look for tournaments that offer more than one entry — as previously mentioned, some satellites award more than one player with an entry to a bigger competition — the more, the merrier.
- Do your best at the start, then focus on staying in the game — satellites that award many entries to a tournament are great because you can relax once the bubble bursts and you make it to the list of awarded players.
- Take your chances — turbo and super-turbo satellites do not allow players to think about their actions, meaning that the element of luck plays a more important role, so feel free to play aggressively and take your chances.
- Seek an alternative — satellites are not for everybody and, if you think that you are not fit for playing one such competition, make sure to explore other options on poker sites. There are various other types of tournaments out there such as MTTs, progressive knockouts, free tournaments, deep stack tournaments, and more.
Pros and Cons of Satellite Tournaments
Although they seem like a perfect opportunity for players to earn their seat in one of the bigger tournaments, satellite qualifying competitions do have a couple of disadvantages as well. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of this type of poker contest.
Pros
The primary advantage is that you get to invest a small amount of money and earn much more than that if you do well in the high buy-in event. There have been several cases of players qualifying via online satellite tournaments and making a pretty good run in the live ones.
Therefore, getting a chance to take part in a high buy-in event is perhaps the second most important advantage of online satellite tournaments.
Finally, satellite tournaments feature both professional poker players and complete beginners. It’s an opportunity to test your skills in this game against all sorts of players.
To sum up, these are the main advantages of satellite tournaments:
- Small buy-in/huge potential reward
- Opportunity to play in high buy-in contests
- Opportunity to improve your poker skills
Cons
Many poker players simply don’t like the fact that there are many steps that they need to take in order to get the final reward. In other words, satellites are so popular that sometimes thousands of players apply for them, meaning that it takes time before the whole thing is wrapped up.
World Series Of Poker Satellite Tournaments
In order to speed things up, many online poker rooms opt for turbo and super turbo tournaments. Many players who like to take it slow might not enjoy the speed with which these contests unfold.
Therefore, the two main disadvantages of satellite tournaments are:
Wsop Satellite Tournaments 2020
- There are too many steps
- Some of them are too fast