Last Minute Sattys for the WSOP Main Event

Justin Howell : June 29th, 2009

The Main Event of the WSOP is about to get underway as we write this article, meaning the options for those players looking to get into the 10k buy in Main Event without ponying up the full 10k are starting to shrink – and fast. Below we’ve summarized the major satellite options still available to players looking to take a shot.

Online Poker
Your options are pretty thin in this arena. This past Sunday was the end-point for most of the major rooms (if they hadn’t wrapped up sattys already). PokerStars, Cereus, Party, Everest and iPoker are all finished up with their WSOP sattys. Bodog is as well, but has started qualifiers for WSOP 2010, so if you’re looking to get a jump on that, head on over.

Full Tilt Poker is the last major online room running sattys, and June 30th is your last shot at a WSOP package on FTP. On that day, FTP will be running the last of their Tuesday Main Event qualifiers, a $322 buy in. FTP also has $216 shootout tournaments running twice on both Monday and Tuesday.

Live Poker
You have a much better suite of choices here. The Rio is, unsurprisingly, running satellites to the WSOP until just about the last minute possible.

You have your choice between single table satellites and what the Rio calls mega (or multi table) satellites.

Here’s a guide to the various STT options.

As far as multi table sattys go, here’s what’s available at the Rio:

$500+ 50 Mega Satty to Main Event
July 1st – 5th
Friday / Saturday 10am and 4pm

4000 Chips
30 minute levels

Even with 4k, you’re likely to be looking at pretty thin stacks as the bubble approaches. One out of every 21 or so players will be awarded a seat here, and there’s no reason to believe that the the buy in will attract high quality play. Plus, they’re weekend events, so you should get more casual players in anyhow, especially as the Main Event draws closer.

$1000+ 60 Mega Satty to Main Event
July 1st – 5th
Daily 1pm and 8pm

6000 Chips
30 minute levels

Better stacks, same structure, higher buy in – these are probably especially great bets on the days when the main event has already gotten underway. One in every 10.5 players move on

$1000+ 60 Mega TURBO Satty to Main Event
July 6th
8am

6000 Chips
10 minute levels

Nothing says ‘degen’ quite like attendance at a live, last-minute turbo satty … at 8 in the morning. Hard to say who’s going to show up for this one, but at 10 minute levels, it doesn’t really even matter that they’ve given you 6k in chips (you’ll likely be looking at a $400 big blind after about 30 hands or so).

If we forgot an option that should be included here, please let us know.

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