Chris Moneymaker turned $40 into $2.5 million in 2003 and kick started the poker boom. This trend of big wins coming from satellite winners continued right into 2010 with recent Aussie Millions champion Tyron Krost turning a $600 AUD satellite into the $10,000 AUD buy-in going on to win a first prize of $2 million AUD. Satellite poker tournaments are a fabulous way of turning a relatively small buy-in into something much larger. You get the chance to play in an event that you may not otherwise be able to afford to play in.

For those of you who play poker online sites like bwin have a vast array of satellites to play in and it is a good investment to try and win a seat to something larger. If you are one of the many poker players chasing a life changing win, trying to win a satellite is a good place to start.

To win a satellite poker tournament you must play for the win, as only the winning player or a very small proportion of the participants are rewarded with either a package or seat to the bigger tournament. Of course you should be playing every poker tournament to win but not every player takes the risks that they should to build a stack. Playing satellites will teach you the type of poker tournament strategy you need to succeed and act as a refining tool to the type of aggressive strategy online poker tournaments in 2010 demands.

A Few Strategy Tips for Satellites

Try and be the aggressor as much as possible. Because satellites pay only the top one or two spots with prizes this polarises normal tournament strategy. Normal poker tournament strategy says that you should be very tight when calling off all-in shoves or raises but you can open up to take pots as the aggressor. Satellite tournaments demand this strategy cranked up a few levels.

As the late Amir Vahedi said, “To win you must be prepared to die.” Sitting back and waiting for good cards is fine for cash game strategy but you simply do not have the time to do this format to wait early in the satellite tournaments. Observe your opponents very carefully and steal as much as you can. Against mid-sized stacked players in the blinds they are primed for a steal. Do not worry that they might have a hand, players will fold around 85 – 90% of their hands so the chances of them fold make the steal attempt profitable in the long run. If you call you could still win even if you are dominated going to the flop, turn and river.

Towards the end of the satellite your goal is to survive and not risk your chips until you absolutely must. Risking your tournament life and gambling to get a stack is not optimal as the larger stacks can afford to gamble, lose the hand and still remain a strong favourite for the tournament. Unfortunately all of the other players benefit from the chip leader having a smaller stack without taking any risk even if you do win and double up. It is better to wait for a good hand. Note the shift from early tournament chip accumulation to late tournament survival; it is an important concept of poker satellite tournament play.

Satellites can lead to big online tournament tickets, magnificent holidays and chances to play in big tournaments. Imagine what even a minimum placed cash in a poker tournament would mean for your bankroll if under normal circumstances you could barely afford to play in it! Now imagine going on to win it, you can only do this and have a chance if you win your seat in a satellite!

By Malcolm Clarke

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