Playing The Perfect Satellite
When Chris Moneymaker, rose from absolute obscurity to win the 2004 World Series of Poker, he gave a dream to all the amateur poker places in the world that they themselves could also achieve the same dream. All he played was a $39 satellite tournament to make it to the World Series and turned it into a cool $2.5 million, for him it was a very lucky streak of cards, for the rest of us mortals, we will have to do it gradually one tournament at a time.
Satellite strategy is different to usual tournament strategy since the payout is a flat number of winning seats to a particular tournament. There is no need to risk too much if you have accumulated a chip lead late in the tournament and you have worked out the chip average needed to qualify through. Just multiply the number of players by the starting stack of the satellite and then divide it by the number of seats you will have the average chip stack to qualify. So if there are 40 players and only 10 seats awarded, and the starting stack was 2000, then a chip stack of 8000 means you should start sitting out and letting the shorter stacks knock each other out. Even if you have pocket aces, there is no need to risk anything, you just have to keep folding!
The best type of satellite is where you actually have a good realistic chance of making it, which translates to one in ten to twenty players qualifying through. The more players to seat ratio, the more difficult it is to qualify. Satelliters allow you to stay within your bankroll and still qualify for a big buyin tournament. For example a $20 satellite to a $220 buy in tournament, or $20 satellite to a $220 satellite to a $10,000 buy in tournament. Always stay in your bankroll and play to place!
