Playing Online Poker Satellites with Strategy

Poker satellite tournaments or online qualifiers are poker tournaments where you can win seats into bigger events. They are either single table or multi-table but they are a bit different from regular poker tournaments. In a multi-table satellite all the buy-ins will be added up and divided into seats with the rest being cash prizes. For example, if the big event has a $10,000 buy in for one seat and there is $75,000 in the pool, then the top 7 players get a seat and 9th and 10th place would divide up the remaining $5,000.

Sometimes in an online poker satellite tournament you will change your strategy based on the payouts. Taking the previous example, if you were sitting in 11th or 12th place and only 15 players remained you would have to be very careful because it doesn’t matter if you finish first or 7th, all get the seat. Your goal would be survival. In a one table tournament where only the top spot advances your strategy would be different. You couldn’t just sit back and wait as much.

Online satellites are similar to normal poker tournaments but you need to remember the goal you have in mind. If finishing in the money is the goal then early on you might want to be conservative and be more aggressive late. In a multi-table tournament where a lot of people are involved, you will have to gamble and take more chances. That is the big difference between satellite tournaments and normal one-table tourneys. The bigger events almost force you to take a few more chances.

As you look at playing online poker satellite tournaments you want to consider a couple of points. Are you serious about playing in the big event or are you looking to get lucky and get in. If you are serious about playing in the bigger tournament you might be better off just buying into it. Satellite tournaments have a lot of players, a lot of luck involved, and it takes a lot of good fortune for you to win one. You might be throwing a lot of good money away in the attempt. If, on the other hand, you are looking at a long-shot chance to get in for a small amount of money, take the chance.

Playing online poker satellite tournaments are definitely exciting, but they are also difficult to win. No matter how great of skill you have, the sheer number of players involved in these big events makes your odds of getting into the event pretty long right from the start. Treat these satellite events as learning experiences and try to get lucky.