WSOP satellites

by James West
It is no secret to anyone - even remotely familiar with poker – that the buyins for major poker tournaments, which are the stepping stone to world fame, can sometimes reach staggering sums. Not all people are able or willing to spend that much simply for being allowed to play in one such major tournament, thus – one might think – many potentially talented players are screened out from the very get-go.

The beauty of poker, however, and the very factor partly responsable for it's recent blast to world-wide recognition, is the fact that a nobody off the street – given the right skills – can become a huge celebrity overnight forging his way to wealth and recognition only by winning a poker tournament. How is it possible then, that the poker players who do not possess the material means to buy in to a high-level tournament still get a chance to match wits and skills with the top-ranking pros?

Simple: through a concept that has already been put to use by other sports ( like tennis) to provide easy access for the talented young towards the top ranks: satellite tournaments.

Satellite tournaments are, by definition, a minor event of that particular type of sport which rewards the winner with a spot or starting position in a much higher-lever, more prestigious tournament.

The same concept found prolific breeding gorunds in poker, where players who are financially more or less challenged have been using this path to the big leagues for some time now. The best example in this sense, I reckon, would be Chris Moneymaker.

He is the guy who entered a 40$ buyin satellite tournament to win and as a result advance to the WSOP. That alone was already a nice achievement considering the fact that the buyin for the WSOP is 10.000$. But he didn't stop there. He downright won the WSOP too and walked away with the 2.5 million dollar grand prize. This did not only turn him into something of a poker legend overnight, but he also became the materialization of the dreams of millions of people worldwide. He proved that getting rich out of nowhere, fast and with no money on the line wasn't such a far-fetched idea after all.

These satellite tournaments may have mini-satellites of their own, so the possibilities this system presents for the selection of talented players is virtually endless.

Another contributing factor to the rise to popularity poker's experienced, is the fact that it went online. With the internet blurring all physical borders and erasing distances the satellite system has been transferred to cyberspace with great succes. Nowadays it is a common practice for online poker rooms to award a seat ( or more) in prestigious poker tournaments for the players who win its own, in house, online tournament.

On one hand, online poker satellites provide players with a wonderful new opportunity to secure a seat in a dream-tournament from the comfort of their home, on the other hand, the spreading of the sub-satellites and mini-poker satellites will have as effect the fact that only truly talented and truly capable poker players will be able to profit off them.

Blind luck will be less and less of a factor in the selection of poker players, thus the level of poker played in big tournaments will also rise. It might not be the side-effect that best promotes the 'underdog-off-the street winning big' dream, but after all poker is a game of skill, isn't it?