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It’s every poker player’s dream to take down the $1 million bracelet at the WSOP, but not everyone has $10,000 just lying around to buy-in to the event. If you’ve ever found yourself in a similar situation -missing out on a tournament with juicy cash prizes because your bankroll didn’t permit it, then you’re not alone.
While we would all like to be playing high stakes and crushing the country’s biggest poker tournaments, the opportunity to take down poker’s biggest cash prizes are simply limited by the bankroll you have on you. But does it have to be that way, Chris Moneymaker’s legendary win at the 2003 WSOP, where he converted $86 into $2.5 million, is a self-explanatory story for how poker satellites (or sattys) can help players scale their earnings with a relatively limited bankroll.
If you haven’t heard of his win and are reading this in disbelief, then let’s quickly go over what a satellite is and how it helps you make big money with a relatively small bankroll.
What Are Poker Satellites?
Let’s say you want to take part in an online poker tournament offering a INR 20 LAC Guarantee but the buy-in is 5,500 Indian rupees and you only have a bankroll of 10,000 Rupees.
Obviously, it’s madness to spend half of your entire poker bankroll on just one online poker tournament so, even though you would love to take part, you decide to sit this one out.
You then notice a tournament for 275 Rupees which, instead of offering cash as the prize, offers a seat to the 20 LAC tourney. To get a seat to the bigger online poker tournament, all you have to do is win (haha!)
This qualifying online poker tournament that offers you a chance to the bigger tournament at a discounted price, is called the satellite or satty, for short. Now, you might be asking yourself: “Why should I spend money for shot at a ticket when I can just play a smaller tournament with cash prizes? If you’re skeptical about the chance of winning through sattys, then you’re a smart poker player.
The average player’s chance of winning a satty are 1-in-12, but there are many ways you can improve those odds. At the end of the day, poker satellites offer immense returns on your investment, so making them a part of your game is definitely worth your while.
Multi-Seat Poker Satellites
If this idea of playing online poker tournaments meets your mind, we invite you to play multi-seat satellites on our platform. PokerBaazi regularly offers 2, 5 and 10 seat poker satellites to its various mega online poker tournaments and events. When more seats are on offer, then your chances of winning a ticket turn exponentially higher.
It’s important to remember that multi-seat poker satellites, everyone who places is an equal winner. That means that coming 10th in a 10-seat satty offers more value than if you got placed 10th in a low-stakes tourney with a similar buy-in. If you see such opportunities that are within your bankroll limit, then it might be in your interest to give it a shot.
This may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s actually one of the principles of good poker bankroll management. If you know you have the bankroll to play the 20 LAC GTD, then isn’t it worth trying to get into the same tournament at a much cheaper price?
Since it’s already within your budget, you are basically risking a fraction of your online poker bankroll to earn exponential rewards. As you are already planning to enter this online poker tournament, you are also likely to be more focused on how to play poker when playing.
Play Against Softer fields
Poker satellites also offer recreational players a chance to play in the big league with the pros. This means that satty fields, as a general rule of thumb, are softer than the fields for regular poker tournaments. Players tend to have very clear play-styles and weaknesses that are easy to exploit in the different stages of the game.
While most tournaments have either a hyper or turbo structure which force shove-or-fold play, smart players can take advantage of the many openings that appear to build a stack and coast through the bubble.
Play To Survive
As mentioned earlier, all satellite winners are equal. If you have a comfortable chip stack and are likely to make it through the bubble with others busting before you, then even pocket Aces are a candidate for a fold (yes, you read that right). With blinds going up fast, aggressive play early can give you the lead over surprised opponents, and keep you in the game till the end. Once the late game kicks in, the idea is to outlast the field and make it through the bubble, so tighten up!
Poker satellites do come with a lot of variance, but when made proper use of, they are a powerful way to make it to the poker big league. Start adding them to your game and go for the massive win!
