Have you ever wanted to play in a really big poker tournament, such as the WSOP, but can’t afford the kind of money to gamble to do it. Or, perhaps you do have the bankroll to play in satellites, but you’d really like to have the experience of playing in a different kind of tournament.
The PokerStars online poker room has a multitude of satellite tournaments running for all kinds of players. You can pay what you want and sign up for a tournament based on how much you want to spend. You will be able to pay with a credit card online at the time of your registration.
Ever wanted to play in a tournament where you had to pay a fee just to participate, or a Jayapoker where you felt like a fish being thrown back into the water? Well, these are typical reasons why people will play in satellites, but some don’t actually win their seats into the big event. That doesn’t mean you can’t win your way in to the big one though. You just need to take more specific steps to make it happen.
If you ever want to win a seat into a big tournament, there are a few steps you need to take. You are going to need to register on PokerStars and then research which poker rooms you will gain entry from. I have a few ways to do this specific to the bigger tournaments that you can gain entry from like the WSOP and the WPT.
The first thing I always keep in mind is trying to win your way into pre-flop. It seems to happen a little more rarely than one would think, but when you have a pocket fifty and you are in late position and no one raises, just call the blind and play for the win. A fifty will hardly get you anywhere on the site and you’ll mostly likely be throwing away for the raise. However, if you do manage to come out on top of a flop with a small pair, and no one before you has bet, then maybe consider slow-playing and taking the pot down there and then.
The next thing to take into consideration is trying to work your way up the sit and go ladder. Try to gain as many chips as you can from the very start of the tournament. Do not trouble yourself with aiming for the final table; take your small victories and grind them out to the end.
Once you make it to the late stages of the sit and go tournament, you’ll definitely be at the top. If you are still not completely sure how, or if you’ve made it to the top and you want some more fine-tuning, read on.
In the early stages of the tournament, you’ll be glad you did. Almost every opponent will be pre-flop. Try staying away from raising the hand pre-flop until you see how the table reacts. If everyone folds, you might be in a bit of a surprised but disadvantageous position. However, if you raise in front of your turn you might be able to trick a few people into thinking you have a big hand, and when you actually have nothing and just want to see a free card, people tend to let you take the middle pot, as long as you have shown already that you’re in the hand before the flop.
In the middle of the tournament, you’ll want to be using this to make up for your losses on the early stages. If you have made it past the first few blind levels, try and end up at a table where you actually have a larger chip stack. Try to exploit your opponents when you have a monster hand. When you see pros do this, go and try to emulate them.
Final stage of the tournament is where you want to show your cards. Usually when the game ends, the player with the most chips wins.
Although you are not looking to take down the game, you are looking to intimidate your opponents and show your hands. Usually you don’t want to show one of your hands, as it will give your opponents the information needed to beat you. If you show your hand, you can take out the highest value of your hand.