A large percentage of poker players dream of taking part, and winning, the World Series of Poker Main Event and whilst doing so is difficult enough, even getting the chance to play is out of reach for the general poker population.
The reason for this is the entry fee is a mammoth $10,000, which is a lot of money in most people’s book. There are not many people who can simply afford to put $10,000 on the line in a single tournament and even if they were I am sure their partners would have something to say about doing so!
Thankfully, online poker offers the chance to play in these massive buy-in events for a fraction of the cost thanks to the brilliant invention that is the satellite tournament. Satellites, or sats as they are otherwise known, are usually multitable tournaments that instead of paying a cash prize, offer a seat to a much higher buy-in tournament. They have become increasingly popular in the current financial climate, for both amateur players and professionals alike.
Direct satellites are usually a higher buy-in than most other forms of satellite but they still allow entry into the larger event for a fraction of the actual cost. For example, a site may run a $100 direct satellite into the WSOP Main Event that awards one seat for every 100 entrants in the satellite. For the most part sites generally guarantee a set number of seats into the target tournament in order to promote the satellite and finding sats that run at an obscure time can often have a huge overlay meaning extra added value for those who enter.
For some players even $100 would be out of their bankroll so nearly all sites offer super satellites or feeder satellites that feed into the direct satellite. These are usually small buy-in rebuy tournaments or even sit ‘n’ go tournaments where the number of entrants dictates how many seats are available. Continuing with the example above, a site may run a feeder satellite costing $5 that awards one direct satellite seat for every $100 in the prizepool.
Some people dismiss satellites as a waste of time and money but nothing could be further from the truth. In 2003 Chris Moneymaker won a seat from a $33 feeder satellite into a $500 and then won a seat to the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event from that. Unbelievably, Moneymaker then went on to win the Main Event and with it $2,500,000, to start what is known as the online poker boom.
