Keep in mind though, that many poker players are going to adopt a completely different type of playing strategy when taking part in a Satellite poker tournament, especially those that are played. We want you to be first to know about new events, poker news, player updates, and exclusive rewards and promotions, so please let us know if you would like us to contact you (or not) by selecting one of the options below.
There’s nothing quite like bagging one of the major online poker tournaments at Ignition's site, whether it’s the daily $10K Guaranteed, the weekly $100K Guaranteed, or even the main event at a major festival like the Super Millions Poker Open. But what if you don’t have enough money in your bankroll to play in one of these big main online poker tournaments?
Not a problem. Instead of buying in directly, you can win your seat for a fraction of the cost by playing one of the many poker qualifiers series running at Ignition's site. If you are successful in your strategy in using the latter method, you win a Tournament Ticket that you can use to enter your target event. Either way of getting in is fine, but if you happen to be working with a smaller bankroll, poker satellites will be a better choice for you to enter the series.
What Is a Poker Tournament Satellite?
The terms “qualifier” and “satellite” are used pretty much interchangeably these days when you play in the poker world online. These are special tournament events because the prize pool is made up of Tournament Tickets instead of cash. There will usually be a guaranteed number of Tickets up for grabs; if enough players enter the satellite, then more Tickets may be added to the pool and become live. The satellite will play out until there are as many players left in the field as there are Tickets to be won – then the tournament ends and the winners get their reward. In some satellites, there might also be a small cash prize for the last player who gets eliminated on the bubble.
Differences Between Satellites and Regular Poker Tournaments
The lower buy-ins, the prize pools and the “early” endings that come with satellite tournaments are the key differences in comparison to standard online poker tournaments in the poker world. In addition, satellites tend to have shorter stacks and/or blind levels, in order to keep the action flowing. There will usually be several opportunities to “satty” your way into a major tournament; if it’s one of the later events that ends after the target event has begun, you will be whisked automatically to your seat and start playing at whatever blind level they’ve reached. Otherwise, you’ll have to register and cash in your Tournament Ticket to play the main events online at Ignition's site.
How to Play Satellite Poker Tournaments
Satellites offer some of the softest series you’ll find in this real money poker world. Since the buy-ins are lower than their target tournaments, the competition level in these events tends to be weaker, although many of our high-rollers at Ignition will also try to satty into major tournaments rather than pay up front. You’ll need to play a more exploitative strategy of poker in order to take advantage of the softer players in the poker world. If you find an opponent who’s too passive, bluff more and call less. If they’re too aggressive, bluff less and call more. Find the best strategy that works for you.
At the same time, since the satellite ends once the number of players remaining matches the number of Tickets to be won, it pays to be ultra-cautious in many spots – unless there’s only one Ticket in the prize pool. It is best to pick the strategy best for you to play at Ignition's poker site. The satellite is the one place in Texas Hold’em where it can actually make sense to fold pocket Aces preflop. If you’ve already accumulated a big stack of chips, enough for you to fold the rest of the way and still win your Ticket, there’s nothing to be gained by opening any hand, even the best hand in Hold’em.
This might take some getting used to, especially if you’re an aggressive player. There’s no value in “bossing” a satellite and running up your stack once you’ve got the chips you need. Don’t forget, pocket Aces will lose to Seven-Deuce offsuit nearly 12% of the time at showdown if you get all the chips in preflop. Let someone else try to knock opponents out instead, and assume the risk that comes with getting into these confrontations.
While online poker satellites series have relatively small buy-ins, it’s still important to have a sound bankroll management strategy before entering. As a general rule, keep your roll divided into smaller units and avoid risking more than a certain amount of units in any one tournament. How many units will depend on how many people are playing the satellite in question, how many Tickets are in the prize pool, and how big of an edge you think you have over the competition. Satellites can also have higher variance than regular poker tournaments, so increase your buy-in requirements accordingly.
Poker Tournament Tickets
If you’re not familiar with using Tournament Tickets at Ignition Poker, these vouchers act as a form of currency that you can use only for entering tournaments – no cash games, and no redeemable cash value, either. You can collect Tournament Tickets to these poker events by winning a qualifier, or by converting some of your Poker Points at Ignition's site. Most of your Tickets will be for specific events like the $100K Guaranteed, but you can also collect generic Tournament Tickets that can be used for any event at the specified buy-in, like “Any $10+$1” and “Any $20+$2.”
There are two different ways you can view your accumulated Poker Tournament Tickets in the Ignition Poker client: in the Main Poker Lobby, listed under your Playable Balance, and by checking My Poker when you use the Account Button. You should find one of the following four status levels posted for your Tickets:
- Unused: Tickets that are still eligible to be used for entering a poker tournament.
- Redeemed: Tickets that have already been used to enter, but the poker tournament hasn’t started yet.
- Used: Tickets that have been used to enter tournaments that are now underway or complete.
- Expired: Tickets that were not used and are no longer active.
If you haven’t already, take a moment to look at your Poker Tournament Tickets to make sure you haven’t forgotten any of them. If a Ticket is about to expire, use it now to enter an eligible tournament that’s running later on – don’t let it disappear just because you don’t have the time to play right now. Remember: A Tournament Ticket is a terrible thing to waste in this poker world.
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
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.
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.
Satellite Poker Tournaments Online Games
Therefore, the two main disadvantages of satellite tournaments are:
Online Poker Satellite Tournaments
- There are too many steps
- Some of them are too fast