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Tips for Picking Online Poker Satellites

One way that many online poker tournament players reduce expenses is by playing online satellites. Satellites are small poker tournaments that award seats into upcoming poker tournaments. Depending on the satellite, you can win your way into an event for pennies on the dollar. Chris Moneymaker is the most famous example of someone who has turned a satellite entry into a huge payday.

Most people start playing satellites without making a plan. Today, we will give you a few tips on picking and playing online poker satellites. These tips will be less about poker strategy but rather how to pick and manage your bankroll when playing satellites.

Is The Satellite Worth Playing?

The first question to answer before choosing to play a satellite is whether the event is worth playing. There are a couple of ways to evaluate it. First, how many seats will be awarded from the event. Is there a guaranteed number of seats? How many players have to enter to award a seat?

For example, if a satellite awards seats based on the number of players buying in, this is a reasonable satellite to play, especially if the traffic on the site is reasonable. However, if the satellite has a static number, it may not be worth your time. Who wants to play against 5,000 people to try and win one of five seats.

However, if the satellite awards a seat for every 50 players entering, that 5,000 players satellite will award 100 seats. That’s definitely worth playing.

Single-table satellites are almost always your best option. While there is usually only one seat awarded, you’re playing against five to eight other players rather than hundreds or thousands.

How Deep is the Discount?

Online satellites are all over the board in terms of buy-ins. You can find some for just a few pennies to those costing about 10% of the main tournament buy-in. Most would think that you should shoot for the satellites with the deepest discount. That’s not always the case.

On Sunday, Chris Moneymaker (@CMONEYMAKER) and @JasonSomerville won 2019 @WSOP Main Event seats via $80 online poker satellites.https://t.co/NyV2T7Yv51

— Donnie Peters 🍕 (@Donnie_Peters) July 1, 2019

Those events with buy-ins for a few pennies to $1 on a $500 buy-in will likely have a ton of players and may not be worth the time you’re investing. It may be better to play a higher buy-in to give yourself a better shot at winning a seat without dedicated an entire day to playing.

Setting a Budget for Satellites

Before you buy into your first satellite, determine your goals. Are you trying to save money or are you only looking to play the tournament via satellite? Regardless of your goal, you need to budget accordingly.

For those looking to save money, determine how much you’re willing to invest relative to the buy-in. Generally, look at investing 25% or less of the buy-in. If the event is a $100 event, only play up to $25 in satellites. Since you’re going to play the event anyway, you don’t want to double your buy-in by whiffing on a ton of satellites ahead of time.

When you’re looking to play your way into a tournament, pick one of two alternatives. You can choose to play 25% of the buy-in or a set number of satellites. For example, if you plan to play $5 satellites to a $500 tournament, maybe choose to play five of them. When playing micro buy-in satellites, give yourself around 10 chances. If the satellite is $1 into a $300 event, that’s $10.

Pick the Event that Best Suits Your Game

The reality is that some of you will be better at single-table satellites over multi-table ones. When that is the case, concentrate on playing satellites that play to your strength. There are some that argue that you have to be able to win any satellite to win a tournament. That’s not true.

However, if you cannot regularly win at single-table satellites, then satellites may not be for you. If you can’t win at a single-table satellite, then you will not be able to win at a final table in a tournament. Instead, focus on improving your final table game.

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