Among the most attractive prospects to poker players with small bankrolls is the concept of poker satellites. A satellite allows players to earn their way into huge online tournaments or even win a seat in a giant land-based tourney all for the cost of a few dollars or more.
Unfortunately, the drawback to satellites is that the cheap buy-ins allow tons of people to enter them which makes for some huge tournaments. This is why you need to have a sound strategy for wading your way through these enormous events. But the strategy will change depending upon which type of satellite you enter.
Winner Takes All
As the name implies, a winner takes all satellite means that only one person is going to emerge victorious. Some satellites will award other players with additional prizes such as online tournament credits, but the big prize is going to the top person. Aside from the fact that you obviously need some luck here, there is also strategy to be employed too.
The basic strategy is that you’re going to be doing a lot of pushing since you need to double up frequently. The goal isn’t to slide into the final table, it’s to win! You need to play aggressively and build a big chip stack early just to have a chance. You also have to have the mentality that, if you lose, you’re only out a few bucks anyways.
Multiple Package Satellites
Satellites which award multiple packages (or entries to the next tournament level) allow you to play a little more relaxed since you don’t even need to win to be a winner. As long as you make it past the bubble, you’ve automatically earned your prize. For the most part, you can play these multiple package satellites more like regular tournaments while looking to pick spots and build your chip stack in a normal manner.
Of course you need to get pretty aggressive when the bubble draws near if you’re one of the short stacks in the satellites. That’s because everyone at this outset plays pretty tight seeing as how they’re almost in the prize package area, and this is your best chance to steal blinds and small pots.
