With the full schedule of the 2012 World Series of Poker being announced I thought it would be perfect timing to talk briefly about the satellite tournament strategy because many Betfred Poker customers will be attempting to satellite their way into one of more WSOP events, especially the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event.

The first thing to realise is that a multi-table satellite plays completely different to a standard tournament you will see everyday in the lobby. With a standard cash tournament  the prize money is shared amongst the top 10-15% of finishers with the money starting low and building gradually until the top three places scoop the majority of it so it pays to be aggressive and attempt to put yourself in a position to go deep in the tournament.

However, in a satellite tournament you do not need to take half as many risks because if say there are 10 seats available as prizes 10th place pays out the exact same as winning the event does. As long as you have just a solitary chip in your stack when the 11th place finisher crashes out you will the same as the first place guy who may have 100,000 chips.

This strange dynamic means you should turn your nose up at the majority of small edges because you are essentially trying to preserve your stack first and foremost with chip accumulation the least of your worries. By all means play poker and try to pick up chips but do not take crazy risks on order to do that because you will usually find you do not need to. The big exception to this rule is when it is a winner-takes-all format where you should do everything in your power to pick up chips and win.

One tip is to figure out how many chips the average stack will contain when the prizes are given out and try to aim for that many in your own stack. For example, if each player receives 1,500 chips and there are 100 entrants and ten seats as prizes then the average stack will be  15,000 (1,500×100/10). Take into account the fact some stacks will be much bigger than this and you can keep tabs on how many chips you will need in order to cash. Good luck.