If you are a relatively new player to Bet365 Poker, then you’ll have read lots of marketing material about the ability to play for large sums of money by entering satellite competitions for a comparatively low buy in compared to the potential winnings on offer.
If you have never played in satellite events before, or don’t fully understand the format of such events on Bet365 Poker (or indeed on pretty much any other top poker site), then this is the article for you. We’ll explain all you need to know about Bet365 satellite events and examine whether they truly offer the player a chance to play for a life-changing sum of money, for a relatively modest buy in.
Let’s begin right at the very basic level by explaining what a satellite event on Bet365 Poker, or indeed any other poker site, actually is.
Of course you cannot enter into satellite events on Bet365 if you haven’t become a member of the site. Do so today, and you can get a Bet365 Poker bonus / referrer code in the process – a great way to get started with no deposit required.
What is a satellite event?
A satellite event is simply a tournament where the winner (or a stated number of players finishing in certain positions in the tournament) earn the right to progress to the next stage of the tournament, where the buy in level increases.
For example, on Bet365 Poker, satellite events are often identifiable by the term “stage” being used and a number signifying what level you are buying into. The more satellites an event has, which you need to progress through in order to reach the final stage of the tournament, then the more corresponding stages it will have.
What tournaments tend to have satellite events on Bet365 Poker?
Every week on Bet365 Poker there are a large number of relatively high buy in events, which offer a generally high prize level. A good example of this is the Sunday Special event, which usually attracts around 2,000 players into it. The buy in to play in the final stage of this tournament directly is €75, but throughout the week there are a number of satellites available for it.
Usually on each day of the week there is a higher buy-in level event where players can satellite themselves into the final stage. Example of this include the Super Tuesday, Wednesday £12.5k, Sunday Masters and Monday Omaha poker events.
How many satellites do I need to qualify from to get to the final?
The easiest way to imagine a tournament that has one or more satellite feeding into the main event is to imagine it as a ladder. However, as a player you can elect to start at the bottom rung of the ladder (and pay the smallest entry fee) or you can pay correspondingly larger entry fees to start off higher up the ladder.
On Bet365, for example, the Sunday Special tournament has two stages below the final tournament. Stage 2 allows players to buy in from €1 or €2; Stage 1 allows players to buy in for between €10 and €20 depending on which satellite you enter. Or you can buy in direct to the Sunday Special event for €75 and not bother with the satellites.
In this case, if you buy in for €1 or €2, you would have to finish in the qualifying places in your chosen satellite to earn a place in the Stage 1 event, for which you would receive a free entry as a prize. Then in the Stage 1 event, you would need to finish in the prizes once again to gain a free entry into the main event.
In this example, starting at the bottom rung a player would need to finish in the prizes in two satellites to reach the final tables. However, if he started on the €10 or €20 stages, he would only need to finish in the prizes in one satellite to qualify for the main event final table on the Sunday.
How many satellites you need to progress through tends to depend on the size of the tournament and its popularity and cost of entry. If the buy in to the final table is between €50 and €100, then you may only need to qualify through one or two satellites to reach the final table.
However, for events with buy ins considerably more (€1000+) then this may necessitate a satellite structure of many different stages in order to progress through to the final.
How each satellite event is structured can be different, so if you are unsure, it is worthwhile looking at the structure and understanding that before you decide to participate.
What are my chances of winning a satellite?
Your chances of winning a satellite are the same as winning any other tournament. It is very much down to your skills, luck and how the cards fall and how you play them. Some satellite events may only offer one or two entries into the next stage, which if you are playing against hundreds or even thousands of others doesn’t give you much chance.
However, some satellites also offer advancement to the next stage for one in five or even one in ten players and of course, if you can stay in the game long enough, then you have a much better chance of progressing in these events, than you do in those with fewer prizes available.
Remember though, there is no cash prize for progressing in a satellite. You win your entry into the next round of the tournament, that is all and that usually comes in the form of a tournament token to the same value as the buy in to the next level.
Do satellites offer good value for money?
The first thing you will notice is that in the major poker tournaments, players who have the wherewithal to buy into the final stage of an event, will tend to do so. You won’t find the likes of Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu, trying to satellite into the next WSOP event from a $2 Stage 7 event.
That is simply because they have the skill and funds to buy into these big events directly. Most poker players are not in that fortunate position.
It is also worth noting that satellites don’t offer a great return on investment. Sure, you may pay only $2 to enter a $500,000 tournament at a stage 5 satellite level, but your chances of winning through five satellites, plus finishing high enough in the final table to guarantee a huge prize, is very, very small.
However, satellites can be invaluable for gaining fantastic tournament experience against top quality players at a very cheap price and although playing through the satellites and winning a large lump sum is rare, it does happen and you only need it to happen once for you to make back all your money and then some if you finish in the big prize money places.
Satellites on Bet365 Poker are a good way to enhance your tournament skills at a competitive price. Just remember, not all satellites will be played (if there are too few players, the event will be cancelled) so keep an eye on that before joining a satellite and attempting to win your way into the big money prizes.
