Playing satellite tournaments

Playing satellite tournaments are an overlooked part of poker. Most players will just pay the buy-in for the tournament and go and play. There is a great opportunity in satellite tournaments however where you can go after a lot of dead money. Also, you can receive a ticket to a big tournament without putting up all the money for the tournament. Some players will only play satellite tournaments because there is a lot of dead money, and they can win multiple entries. If you win multiple entries to a tournament you are already going to play the tournament with money in your pocket. What player wouldn’t want that?

How to effectively go about playing satellites is playing with a very small portion of your bankroll. If you play an $11 satellite to a tournament such as the Sunday million on Pokerstars you are playing a satellite for a small amount to a shot with a big opportunity. The Sunday million has a $215 buy-in so you could play ten satellites and only win one and still be putting up only half the poker bonus money to the tournament. Not many players see the opportunity in playing satellites and don’t waste their time, but, if you take a positive approach and play good poker, you have a good shot to make the big tournament. Some satellites have layover also which is dead money committed to the prize pool by the website. If there is a layover in a satellite you have even better odds to get to the target tournament. If you take advantage of little things it can go a long way.

When you are actually playing satellite tournaments the best way is to play it just like a sit and go. You should be playing tighter at the beginning and going in for the win at the end. If you can play tight at the beginning you will get respect from other players at the end if you do happen to make a bluff at a pot. When you are getting closer to winning the entry to the tournament most players will tighten up and this is where you can use your tight image to your advantage. If you can start to win blinds and antes late in a satellite you have a better chance to win than the person who is sitting back and trying to get hands as opposed to going after pots and trying to make hands. When you feel like you have a good view of how the table is playing you can get your entry rather easily at the end of satellite tournaments. There are a lot of players who don’t pick up on aggression and only look at their cards rather than look at what other players are doing. If you can figure out a way to win pots and run over your opponents you will be successful when you play satellites. There is no better feeling then getting an entry to a bigger tournament than you are used to playing for 1/20th of the actual buy-in. if you can parlay that in to cash in the tournament you are far better off and will be picking up potentially a lot of money.