| |  Satelite MTTs - An Untapped Gold Mine
Introduction - Skip to the juicy part if you want
Satelites are running almost nonstop at Pokerstars, my personal preference for online poker, and I never thought much about them. I never wanted to play the $215 $1million guarentee and saw no reason to play them. Within the last year, however, Pokerstars began offering the ability to trade $T (Tournament dollars) for real cash. It was through their own software, and you agreed on the terms with any number of online retailers (PSMoney.com, PSdollars.com, etc, etc). The best rate I've seen was at PSMoney.com, where $T215 goes for $200.
My first experience in a satelite was as a way to blow off my FPP I had earned from playing at Pokerstars. 500FPP gave you a shot at a $215 seat. All you had to do was win a 27-person SNG hands down. In my first shot I went into heads up with a 4-1 chip lead, only to lose the game in back to back bad beats, all in preflop with AQ vs Q10, and then AQ (again!) vs A7. I was pretty upset, as second place got $0, and didn't play another satelite game for months.
Several months later I played another 27-person 500FPP game and won! I emailed support to find out how to unregister from the $215 weekly tournament and I suddenly had $T215 in my cashier window. I used the $T to pay for my SNGs, and it was exciting watching all my cashes turn into real money, it was like turning straw to gold! Unfortunately I was a lot looser with my $T than I would be with real money, even though it was basically the same, and it was gone pretty quickly.
In the last three weeks I've been playing a lot more satelite tournaments. I've won seats in $11+R turbo MTTs, $11 MTTs, $29 9-person SNGs, $13 27-person SNGs, and most recently $39 MTTs - my favorite by far. Although they aren't offered very often, and tend to pop up later in the week as the $215 weekly approaches, they are the best option for me, and I'll explain why:
The Math and Reasoning
Bear with me for a second (hey, you'd made it this far!) while I go through some math. In your average $40 MTT where the top 10% gets paid (lets say 450 people signed up), you need to get at least 18th place to win $200, a 500% ROI (Return on investment). That is the top 4% of the players in the tournament for a 500% return. We all know that poker tournaments are heavily slanted to the top 3 players, but that isn't the case in satelites!
For someone like me, who has a good chance to cash in MTTs, but can never seem to get really deep to the big money, satelite MTTs are the best option. For a $40 buyin, 1/6th of the field makes the money and wins a seat. The seat is a value of $215 (or $200 cash if you trade it), for making the top 16.67% of the field. Compare that to the normal MTT where you need top 4% to get a $200 payout. Obviously you give up the possibilty of scoring it big had you gone on to win the tournament, but as I said, as someone who regularly makes the money but can't seem to get deep - it's a great option.
StevenJV's $39 Satelite MTT Strategy
The Early Game
Play it just like you would any MTT. Personally, I play tight as a rock, though with position and good odds I'm keen to see a flop with suited connectors and hands like KJs. While survival is vital in all tournament structures, its especially crucial in a satelite MTT. People squeak into getting seats with as little as $T2,500 at the money bubble, so don't take a chance to get chips you would need to set yourself for a "shot at the final table," there is no final table. Once the money bubble bursts, the game closes and all those still alive are awarded 1st place prize.
The Middle Ground
Starting with $T1,500 chips with 1/6th the field getting paid, you can easily figure out the average chip stack at the money bubble: $T9,000. Anyone above $9,000 when the money bubble nears (within 3-5 seats) is a shoe-in (more on this later). Most anyone above $T6,500 has a great shot. It's the people around $2k-5k who will be pressured, try to avoid being one of these people. When the bubble is approaching players will be tightening up, and this usually includes the players with lots of chips. Why would they want to risk all their chips when they're so close to the prize? There are exceptions to this rule, as not everyone plays with a sound strategy (and you regularly see two players with stacks over $10k going all in on the bubble!), but you'll know who those players are when the time comes. This is the time to pick up the blinds and small pots to get over the $T6,500 threshold if you haven't already. Be sure you do this before the bubble is looming, somewhere between 10-15 seats away, or else play will get so All-in or fold there isn't much room to play.
The End Game - The Bubble
One of the beauties of satelite MTTs is that the end game is not short handed. If the tournament, like our example, has over 400 players, the bubble will burst with 9-handed tables, and several tables at that. I like to avoid satelite MTTs with less than 300 players, as the bubble can draw out for a long time, putting everyone at risk. When you approach the bubble of top 78 (As was the case in the 450-player satelite - aren't those great odds!), there are 9 tables running, each with a short stack, and the bubble burst is much smoother. As for what to play, it depends on your stack and how near the bubble you are. With 5 players left to go, Pokerstars starts playing Hand-for-hand. I reccommend at this point opening up every table left in the tournament (Pokerstars now offers table resizing, and I fit 9 table on my laptop screen in my last game). It allows you to see the position of all the short stacks, who will be most affected by blinds, and how many players will be almost forced all in before you. This is vitally important! No risks should be taken that aren't needed! For example, in my last seat win I had $T10,000 chips at the bubble, a very comfortable spot indeed. I might as well sat out for as many hands as I planned on playing: ZERO. If I was dealt AA, what would I do? I would fold. Let the other players knock the bubble out, There is Absolutely No Reason to Risk Chips on the Bubble When You have a Top 50% Chip Stack!!!!. I can't stress that enough. If you have AA and your opponents tells you in all seriousness that he has A7o, just fold! In the last game I watched our short stack survive to win a seat with $T1,500 because at another table a player with $T6,500 called another player's ($T5,500) all in with AKo. He lost a race to 55 and was crippled, and the ante's chewed him up. And everyone know's it, and just lets him wither and die. That guy could have just folded his hand, sat comfortable for at least another 30 hands with one more player to be eliminated (and several short stacks due in the big blinds!) and coasted into $215. He probably wasn't watching the other tables, and wasn't playing a sound satelite strategy, don't make that mistake!
Enjoy the Riches
Playing satelites as a money maker is a great, and largely untapped, resource! If you cash in 1 out of 5 $39 games, you'll show a profit (albeit not a large one, but still). It doesn't take much, and as I pointed out earlier, it's a 500% return for placing the top 16.67%, something no decent poker player can pass up.
Hope this inspires a lot of you and works to your benefit. Post your comments/questions/success stories below, I'll be sure to check back on how everyone is doing!
Last edited by StevenJV; 10-10-2006 at 04:41 PM.
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