In the poker tournament world, there are many large poker events played on a yearly, monthly, or in the online poker case, weekly basis. Many of these events have a large buy-in that a lot of people cannot afford. To help more players have a shot in this tournament, satellite tournaments may be available. In a satellite tournament, the winners receive an entry to the bigger tournament instead of cash prizes. In the case of freerolls for special promotions, there will often be freerolls that pay out entries to a regular satellite tournament, or entries to the big even itself. Here we’re going to take a look at how satellite freerolls should be played and why.
The main difference between a satellite freeroll and a cash freeroll is that in a satellite freeroll, the prize structure usually doesn’t increase much, and the winners all win the same prize. For example, if there is a satellite freeroll tournament giving away five trips to the World Series of Poker Main event, then whoever comes in sixth place doesn’t get anything. This means that when there are only a few players left, you have to play ultra tight, and in some cases, it can even be correct to fold pocket Aces before the flop if it’s for your tournament life.
Suppose blinds are at 1000/2000 with no antes in a no-limit hold’em satellite tournament and there are six players left in the scenario described above where the last five players remaining all get the same prize. Now say you are second in chips with 70000, and the chip leader has 100000, but there is a short-stack with just 12000 chips left. If the chip leader shoves pre-flop, and you hold AA, you have to fold because even against a hand you dominate like KK, you still won’t be winning enough to justify the risk. The short-stack has a very high chance of busting out before you are ever in any danger, so getting a seat is almost a sure thing. On the other hand, if you call and are against KK, then about 18% of the time you will lose and be busted out of the tournament.
This is a very important idea to keep in mind, but remember that it only applies if you’re really late in a tournament. In the early stages of a satellite freeroll, you should play normal, solid poker without any huge adjustments.