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Online Satellite Tournament Strategy
April 22, 2008
Calvin Ayre, CEO of BodogLife.com, encourages poker players who want to become successful professional poker players, to start with online multi-table satellite tournaments. These tournaments are like discount air fares into big live events like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the World Poker Tour.
With low buy-ins (anywhere from $1 and up), the payouts are phenomenal. The more inexpensive the buy-in, the more people you will have to beat, and sometimes, there are multiple qualifying tournament seats to win before you make it to the live event, but, as everyone knows, persistence pays off!
Let’s talk about low-buy-in satellites, as they are the most economical and practical place to start. They can generally have anywhere from ten players to 1000 players, with at least one winning seat to a subsequent satellite tournament. Go into the initial qualifier with the knowledge of how many seats are open, and Ayre says to remember that “your goal is simple: Win a seat. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Once you register into an ultra-low buy-in satellite (less than $10), you can bank on a great deal of aggressive opponents sitting around your table. With the less- than-$10 buy-in on the line, they won’t think twice about going all in with a less-than-worthy hand. Knowing this, if you can be the patient gambler, you can wait these aggressive guys out, leaving them to fall prey to one of your strong hands.
Ayre suggests going all in pre-flop only with a strong pair, such as AA, KK, QQ, or AK. Your aggressive opponents will most likely call with much weaker hands, and while they may get lucky once in a while, for the most part, you will double your stack and knock that player out.
On the other hand, if a strong hand is not dealt to you early on, do not play into the aggressive play that may be going on around you. Playing weak hands starting out shouldn’t cost your stack too much. If the flop doesn’t look hopeful, fold, but don’t let the blinds eat you up as the action progresses; this will ultimately send you out.
As the blinds increase, hopefully you have won a couple of nice pots, but if your stack is on the small side, it may be time to start playing more aggressively, especially pre-flop. You have nothing to lose moving all in with a weak pocket. This is an opportunity to steal the blinds or get a lucky flop.
As the tournament winds down, hopefully your chip stack is above average. Your opponents will tighten up, more so when multiple seats are available to be won. Some of your opponents, who believe their chip stack will coast them into the final table, will obligingly fold to you, hoping you will be able to eliminate another short-stacked player who will face-off with you in desperation.
Understanding these basic satellite tournament strategies will give you the advantage over your less knowledgeable opponents.
Topics: poker news |