Poker satellite tournaments are one of the most popular types of poker tournaments online. A satellite tournament, for those of you that don’t know, is a tournament in which the prize is not cash, but rather entry into a larger and more prestigious tournament.
The great thing about satellite tournaments is that they give talented poker players the opportunity to take part in prominent poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker, when they may not be able to afford to enter otherwise. The reason for this is that the buy-in for a satellite tournament is generally much less expensive than the buy-in for the tournament that the winner will gain entry to.
Because satellite tournaments are such a great and inexpensive way to gain entrance into big name tournaments there are generally a lot of participants. For this reason it is important to play aggressively. Depending upon the number of players in the tournament you may only have a slim chance of winning so the more aggressively you play the better, as you don’t want to fall behind.
Some satellite poker tournaments are run as elimination tournaments. In these tournaments players are eliminated as they run out of chips. However, you will also find re-buy satellite tournaments. In these tournaments, players have the opportunity to buy-in again if they run out of chips during the early stages of tournament play. In re-buy tournament play many players take a lot more risks early on than in elimination tournaments, since they know they can always buy more chips and re-enter tournament play if they lose.
It is also important to note that satellite tournaments, unlike some other tournament varieties, are generally quite long. A satellite tournament may last from four to six hours and even be played over a number of days. The reason that these types of tournaments are often longer than other tournaments is that they are very serious. You have to prove yourself as a capable and skilled poker player because the players in the tournament you could potentially win entrance into are likely to be very skilled and advanced.
There have been a number of instances of satellite tournament winners coming in as underdogs to take the big prize in prestigious tournaments. If you have always dreamed of playing in the WSOP, World Poker Tour or another tournament with an entry fee that’s out of your price range then try to get in with a satellite game!