Warming Up to the 2010 WSOP
by Bodog Poker | Mar 15 2010
Well it's that time of year again poker players. We're only a couple of months away from the biggest annual
poker tournament in the world, and that means one thing to all you grinders out there:
World Series of Poker satellites. Every year the internet poker industry qualifies thousands of players to play in the WSOP Main Event, making it the undisputed championship of poker.
You don't have a passion for this game if you don't dream of playing in the Main Event, and most players don't have a way to get there unless they win a seat in a qualifying tournament. Winning a seat in the WSOP Main Event is no easy task. The odds are stacked against you to beat a big field of players to get there, but every grinder knows that winning a tournament can happen to anyone, and any amateur player can find themselves in the massive field of 7000-plus players that the Main Event is sure to attract this year.
Regardless of the odds against you, you want to try to increase your chances of winning a seat as much as possible. That means putting in some extra effort and planning so you can optimize your time. The best way to win a seat is to play in as many satellites as you possibly can, so getting organized will get you in as many as your time will allow.
Taking the time to look over your satellite options and scheduling your action will commit you to play the events you have planned. It allows you to free up the time so you can concentrate on playing your best game.
Choose action that appeals to your game; you can qualify for the Main Event playing
multi-table tournaments and
sit-and-go tournaments. Find the action that works for you and commit the time to play. You can't win a seat if you don't play, and just playing a satellite tournament when you think you have the time will diminish the amount of qualifier action you'll end up playing by a big percentage.
Just playing when you have the free time will also create bankroll issues for you. When you're not scheduling your action you have to play in tournaments that are available at that time. That means that you may not have a good satellite choice for your bankroll. Spending more than 3 or 4% of your bankroll to play a qualifier is not a good practice. Scheduling ahead of time eliminates these issues.
These tournaments are long shots, and even if you win a seat you don't replace funds in your playing bankroll. You've won a chance to play in the Main Event, not a share of a tournament prize pool. The investment will only pay off if you manage to money in the Main Event, which potentially could be a life-changing amount.
So get yourself organized and play in as many satellites as you can afford. Realize that it's tough to win a seat, and to expect disappointments along the way. But for those who stick to it and believe they can do it, the dream of flying (all-expenses-paid) to Las Vegas to play in the Main Event for millions of dollars, against the best players in the world, will eventually be theirs.
