Satellite tournaments offer an opportunity for players of all levels to take shots at events that are outside of their usual buy-in level. They are a great way to give yourself options without breaking your bankroll.

When it comes to satellite strategy, the adjustments are about as dramatic as it comes. It’s all due to one huge difference in the payout structure of these games.

What are satellites and how are they different?

Satellite tournaments offer prizes that usually consist of tickets or seats to a higher priced event.  The payout structure is typically very flat. A certain percentage of the field will make it through and those who do will win entry to the target tournament.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner looking to play an $11 MTT. Or an experienced player taking a shot in a $1k. Satellites give you a chance to win lower cost entry to the event.

Because the payout structure is so flat, satellite poker strategy is very different. Especially in the later stages as the bubble approaches.

Playing to survive

No poker manual worth more than the paper it’s written on will tell you to play a regular MTT merely to survive and make the min-cash. The biggest prizes are all weighted towards the top spots, so making the final table and breaching the top three is the overall aim.

The situation is totally different in satellite tournaments because there’s absolutely no need to come first. Everyone who makes the money gets the same prize.

For example, let’s say that a 100 person satellite pays the top 15 places and everyone wins the same value ticket to a tournament. Making the money with one big blind is the same as making the money with a big stack.

There is therefore no incentive to build your stack beyond what you need to make it through. In satellites, you are playing purely to survive the bubble.

Early stages of satellites

The early stages of a satellite play very similarly to an MTT, so you won’t have to make too many adjustments. The aim is to chip up by winning big pots, hopefully doubling your stack a couple of times along the way to set you up for the later stages.

A lot of strategy guides recommend a tight-aggressive strategy for satellites and you can’t really go too far wrong with this approach. Get in pots with strong hands and play for value.

You also shouldn’t neglect speculative hands, though. Unless it’s a hyper-turbo, stacks will be relatively deep early on. So you can afford to see flops in position with hands like small pocket pairs and suited connectors. Again, you’re aiming to stack off when you hit big.

Weighing up your stack

As the bubble approaches, you’ll need to weigh up the size of your stack in relation to the blinds as well as compared to other player’s stacks. You should start to do this well before the stone bubble, as satellite bubbles are much more significant than in a regular MTT.

You’re trying to figure out where you sit in the field. Can you make it through to the money with your current stack? If not, do you need to double up to give yourself a chance? Or can you get away with stealing blinds to survive?

The reason why you ask these questions as the bubble approaches, is because your strategy in this phase will depend on the relative value of your stack.

Playing different stack sizes on a satellite bubble

How you play on the bubble of a satellite will depend on your stack size relative not just to the blinds, but also to everyone else’s stack. What you need to happen is for enough other players to bust before you that you win your ticket. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here’s a very quick guide to playing different stack sizes on the bubble of a satellite:

• Very short stack – With a very short stack that is in immediate danger your only choice is to take risks to steal chips or win pots. If you have fold equity, you should sway towards shoving all in whenever you get a +EV spot.
• Short stack – If you have a short stack but are not immediately at risk. Or there are other players who are shorter and could bust first, then you’ll need to play a balancing act on the bubble. You’re basically hoping to fold your way to the money and let shorter opponents take the risks, but you also need to do enough to stay ahead and survive.

• Medium stack – Medium stacks usually have the most to lose on the bubble in terms of equity. With an average stack, you’ll usually have the satellite victory locked up. It’s rarely worth taking any risks, especially against bigger stacks who have you covered.
• Big stack – In a regular MTT, you would be looking to run over your opponents on the bubble with a big stack. You’d be applying pressure whenever possible to accumulate chips for a final table run. In a satellite, there’s no point accumulating those extra chips. You can still be aggressive towards very short stacks, looking to give them a harder time surviving. But don’t go stacking off or wasting chips when you have a guaranteed win.

Fold equity is your best weapon in satellites

Given that chip accumulation is pointless and the aim is to survive in satellites, it’s a huge mistake to start calling all-ins. Even if you’re ahead in terms of chip EV, calling shoves will rarely be profitable when you factor in the risk of busting or putting yourself at risk.

This effect is so pronounced on a satellite bubble that it’s not uncommon to find spots in which it’s correct to fold strong hands. That includes ace-king, queens, kings or even aces.

Obviously, you don’t want to call if you’re covered. But this is true even for medium stacks when faced with a short stack shove. The medium stack can’t bust, but they can lose a chunk of chips that puts them in a vulnerable situation and so should never be calling light.

If it’s looking like you need to gain more chips to survive, find an opponent who will really struggle to make the call even with a premium hand. Shove. Gain what you need. Move on and survive