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WSOP Mega Satellites at the Rio: Schedules and Structures

While plenty will win their seat online, hundreds, of not thousands more will qualify for their WSOP dream live at the Rio. If you’re looking to be one of that crowd, here’s a handy guide to the what and where of WSOP mutli-table sattys at the Rio in 2010.

Those familiar with the MTT satty schedule form 2009 at the WSOP will certainly notice some changes.

The most significant? Players looking for a $1k satellite will have far fewer options this year than last, as that format has just about vanished from the MTT satty schedule.

Players will also have more concentrated MTT satty options as the WSOP approaches, with the schedule really picking up during “Mega Satellite Days” from July 3rd – 7th.

Please confirm start times with the Rio before making plans, as the WSOP schedule has been known to shift a bit now and again. Also, this article only covers multi-table (or ‘mega’) satellites; single-table satellites run around the clock at the Rio and start as they fill.

Every mega-satellite uses the same structure, which you can find at the end of the article; each buy in starts you with different chip stacks, noted in the descriptions.

Here’s the blow-by-blow on your choices of getting in on the cheap at the 2010 WSOP.

$330 Mega WSOP Satellite Tournaments

The lowest rung on the buy in ladder is available to weekday players only. The Rio will be running these tournaments every day at 3pm from May 27-July 2.

In this satellite, about one in every 35 people will win a seat. Note that the $330 doesn’t put $330 into the prize pool; $30 is the entry fee and another 3% is taken out for dealers and staff.

What do you get for your money? 2000 chips and 30 minute blind levels. To put that in perspective, if you show up to the tournament one hour late, your 2000 chip stack will be a 10BB stack, so expect action to move pretty quickly.

$550 Mega WSOP Satellite Tournament

The next step up runs just as frequently as the $330 – you can play these every day between May 27th and July 2nd at 9pm.

During Mega-Satellite Days (July 3rd -7th) the $550’s will run twice a day: 10AM and 4PM.

You get a slightly better value for your money with the larger buy in – the structure is identical to the $330 (30 minute levels, fairly rapidly escalating blinds) but you do get double the starting chips with a 4000 chip stack. That’s enough to provide the potential for post-flop play well into the 6th level, assuming you’ve chipped up a bit in the first five levels.

$1060 Mega WSOP Satellite Tournament

Last year, the 1k’s ran a couple of times a week; apparently they didn’t draw enough because the only time you’ll be able to play this buy in is during MSD (July 2nd – 7th) at 1PM.

You start with 6k in chips and play 30 minute levels, with the same structure as the other Megas, so not a bad bargain. The higher price tag might result in a stronger player pool, but that impact should be largely mitigated by the proximity of the Main Event – as that draws closer, satty fields tend to get weaker.

The 1k’s are also a better value rake-wise, charging only 6% rake as opposed to the 10% taken in the $330s.

$2080 Mega WSOP Satellite Tournament

This is a new addition to the WSOP satty schedule for 2010. Like the 1k, this only runs during MSD (July 2nd – 7th) and kicks off at 9pm. The later start time might impact the fields a bit.

The big advantage: 10k in chips, which should provide plenty of play even with 30 minute levels and decently sized blind jumps. The structure is the same as the rest of the Megas. It should be interesting to see if these catch on in 2010 – on one hand, the price tag is a bit daunting, but on the other, the knowledge that some one in six players will win a seat might provide a real motivation to desperate players.

$1060 Turbo WSOP Satellite Tournament

July 8th – mark your calendars. That’s the date the most desperate tournament field of all time will assemble in the Rio at 8AM for what amount to just about their last shot to win a Main Event seat.

You get 6k chips, but that doesn’t mean much when you have 10 minute levels. If your ICM is pretty sharp and you’re a morning person, this tournament will be a great value. If not, sleep in and wait for your friends to stumble back to the room with their bad beat stories.

Non-Main Event WSOP Sattys

The Main Event isn’t the only tournament you can satellite into at the Rio. Details:

From June 27th to 29th at 8pm, you can fork over $1570 and take a shot at a seat in the 25k NLHE 6-max event.

Want to enter the 50k Player’s Championship? $2250 is the entry price for mega-sattys running on May 27th at 1PM, 4PM and 8PM.

Mega-Satellite Structure for 2010 WSOP

Structure for WSOP MTT Mega Satellites (sb / bb / ante)

25/50
50/100
100/200
100/200/25
200/400/50
300/600/75
400/800/100
600/1200/100
800/1600/200
1000/2000/300
1500/3000/400
2k/4k/500
3k/6k/500
4k/8k/1k
6k/12k/1k
8k/16k/2k
10k/20k/3k
15k/30k/3k
20k/40k/5k
30k/60k/5k
40k/80k/10k
60k/120k/15k

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