Alternatives to Satellite Tournaments
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The Best Alternatives to Satellite Tournaments
Satellite tournaments have always been the most common way to play live poker events at a discount.
Casinos that host major tournaments usually run a few satellite tournaments on the days leading up to the event. However, due to the popularity of online poker, the bulk of tournament entrants nowadays earn their seat through online satellite tournaments, usually with low buy-ins and huge fields.
Winning your way to a major poker event through satellite tournaments is not an easy task. Satellite tournaments can take as long as 8 hours to play and often award packages to less than 2% of the field.
For players who would rather not play long satellite tournaments, there are now a number of alternative ways to earn seats to live poker tournaments. These methods make it much easier to consistently earn buy-ins and sponsorship packages to a variety of poker events around the world.
The best alternatives to traditional satellite tournaments are: Built-in VIP Programs, offered at some online poker rooms; external Poker Rewards Programs; and Step Tournaments.
VIP Programs
Most online poker rooms have a built-in VIP program, which rewards players with points based on the number of raked hands they play and tournament fees they pay.
These points are usually redeemable for buy-ins to various online tournaments at the poker room, such as satellite tournaments and MTTs with large guaranteed prize pools.
A few poker rooms allow their users to save up huge amounts of points and exchange them for entries into live events. Players who take advantage of this option don’t have to win a satellite tournament, but are usually treated like satellite winners and required to wear the poker room’s logos at the events.
The best example of an online poker room with a built-in VIP program is PokerStars. They run a tiered VIP program with levels to accommodate everyone from recreational players to multi-tabling grinders. The more points you earn each month, the faster you earn points in subsequent months.
Players who make it to the highest tier of their VIP Program receive a sponsorship package that includes a $5,200 buy-in to PokerStars’ online WCOOP Main Event, as well as buy-ins to two major live events, such as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, EPT Monte Carlo, or the WSOP Main Event.
Pros:
- High volume players earn sponsorship packages to live events quickly
- Points can be spent on many items other than tournament buy-ins
- PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker room, so there is a tonne of action.
Cons:
- It takes a very long time for low and medium volume players to earn packages
- Players are required to wear PokerStars gear and logos at the events
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Players can only earn points when they play at PokerStars
Poker Rewards Programs
There are now a number of websites devoted solely to helping poker players play more live events, without having to play any satellite tournaments. The best example we’ve found is Buy-in Bank.
Buy-in Bank provides online poker players with a rewards program that is free to join and quite similar to the built in VIP Program at PokerStars. The main difference is that players are able to play and earn points at multiple online poker rooms.
The VIP points at Buy-in Bank are known as Grinder Points. These points can be exchanged in the Buy-in Bank’s Poker Tour Store for buy-ins to major and minor poker tours around the world. Grinder Points don’t have an expiration date, so players can earn the tournaments seats they want at their own pace.
When cashing in Grinder Points, you are given the option of receiving just your buy-in, which is great for events close to home, or a full sponsorship package including an additional $2,000 in spending money.
Buy-in Bank also offers a backed sponsorship program for their members for future live tournaments. Players who are interested in the program are given the option of wearing Buy-in Bank gear at the events. Unlike PokerStars VIP Program, there are no contractual requirements to wear logos.
The final difference is that Grinder Points have a much higher value than PokerStars FPP points, even though both are earned at roughly the same speed. This is because Buy-in Bank and similar poker rewards programs focus solely on helping online players play more live poker tournaments.
For example, entry into the EPT London Main Event costs 700,000 FPPs at PokerStars and can only be purchased by players at the 4th-tier of their VIP Program. The same package costs 112,500 Grinder Points and is available to all Buy-in Bank account holders, regardless of their play volume.
Pros:
- Buy-ins and sponsorship packages to live events are earned quickly
- Choosing buy-in only packages allows you to earn tournament entries even quicker
- Users can play at multiple poker rooms and earn backed sponsorship deals
Cons:
- Grinder Points can only be used for live tournament entries and spending money
- You can’t sign up to earn Grinder Points at poker rooms where you already have an account.
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Step Tournaments
Step Tournaments are a modified version of satellite tournaments, consisting of a series of single table tournaments or SNGs. Players are able to start playing at any step they choose and progress up or down the steps based on their performance in each Step Tournament they play.
In 9 or 10-player Step Tournaments, the top two players climb to the next step, the 3rd and 4th place players remain at the same level, and most other players move down a step or two. Usually only one or two players receive no prize at all.
By climbing the Steps and winning the SNG tournament at the Final Step, you win a sponsorship package to a live poker tournament.
Pros:
- Each Step Tournament takes a lot less time to play than a multi-table satellite tournament
- The buy-in for Step 1 is as low as $0.10 at some poker rooms
- Players can start at whichever Step they can afford to play
Cons:
- Climbing to the Final Step takes much longer than playing a single MTT satellite tournament
- One mistake can cost players their Step Ticket, forcing them to start over after hours of play
- Step Tickets are not redeemable for cash, making them an all-or-nothing prospect
Full Tilt Poker offers a large number of Step Tournaments, which lead to buy-ins to tournaments on the World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker, and a variety of other international poker tours. Click Here to download their poker room software and start playing Step Tournaments today.
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