The World Series of Poker is the largest poker tournament series in the world. Poker professionals flock from all over the world to try their hand at winning a bracelet, which is the trophy of sorts for those select few who are fortunate enough to take down a WSOP event. Many poker players have won multiple bracelets and they are considered a large career achievement. Poker professionals are not the only people who participate in the tournaments however. Many amateur and recreational poker players try their hand at winning a World Series of Poker bracelet. Take Darvin Moon for example, a complete amateur who took second place in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.
A lot of amateur poker players get into the World Series of Poker through satellites. WSOP 2010 Satellites are typically offered at a fraction of the large tournament’s buy-in. Poker players can buy into a satellite tournament for just a few dollars and play for a seat at a much larger tournament. Internet poker rooms send thousands of players each year to the World Series of Poker through satellite tournament entries. A satellite works by waiting for the value of the prize pool to reach the tournament buy-in entry and then awarding another seat up for grabs. For instance if a $10 satellite tournament was running for a $1000 World Series of Poker tournament, for every 100 people that entered the satellite one entry to the $1000 tournament would be up for grabs. The top finishers in the tournament would win the tournament entry.
Satellite tournaments allow poker player with a small bankroll have a chance to enter the tournament of their life. For just a few dollars, poker players can win their way into the World Series of Poker Main Event and play for the chance to win millions. Chris Moneymaker is a great example of what a satellite can do. Chris Moneymaker entered a poker satellite at a large poker room and managed to win it for entry into the main event. Moneymaker managed to win that event and take home 2.5 million dollars in the 2003 World Series of Poker. Satellite tournaments tend to be a lot tighter than the normal standard of tournament and poker players can usually exploit this by adapting their game. By playing a little more aggressive in tight situations, poker players can build their stack without risking too many chips. When it comes to the bubble poker players are best playing a little tighter however because every place it paid the same. If a poker player is comfortable in his position it is sometimes a better idea to allow the shorter stacks to go at each other instead of possibly putting himself in danger of being knocked out with nothing.