MTT satellite strategy

I think the biggest difference between a satellite and a normal tourney is just the fact that you don't have to use the "go for the gusto" type strategy. You don't need to switch gears and get aggressive near the bubble; it's much safer to wait for one of the shortstacks to bust, as obviously the number of chips you end up with doesn't matter. In a normal tourney, you'd need to loosten up and start stealing the conservative players' pots and blinds, but that's not the case with satellites.

Nice thread

I like to play sattelite tourys alot and I find that the strategy shouldnt change much at all from any other MTT. The only difference is when you are nearing the bubble. When there are 5-10 players left before the prizes are awarded you can be more tight depending on the blind to stack ratio. You could also throw in some high aggression aswell like regular cash tournys because many players arent playing anyhands when they around low to midstacked to hopefully just slip into a prize position.

I remember playing 1 of those and was massive chip leader... near the bubble.. I just folded about every hand and cruised to the next level.

I love satellites - the only 2 times I've ever laid AA pre-flop was at the very end of these things.

dont quite understand the point of laying AA down ever.

It's proper satellite end-game strategy.

Sklansky discusses the few times it is generally accepted to be correct in MTTs also.

Since this is the case, you might want to stay away playing in MTT satellites.

Let's use this hand as an example here...in the final stages of a MTT satellite that gives seats to 7 people. There are 8 people left in the satellite, and you are comfortably sitting 3rd in chips, with about 40BB in your stack. There are 2 players who are extremely short-stacked at 4 or 5BB each...at this point you more than likely can fold every hand and have no problems winning your seat.

Cards are dealt, and the 2 short-stacks end up all-in - chipleader to your right goes over the top all-in...you look down and see AA - the proper play here in this style of tournament (where 1st through 7th pay the same amount...one seat) is to fold this as quick as you can...as playing this hand in this situation is uber -EV.

Here's why: If the chip leader's hand holds up over the other 2 players, the satellite is over, and you've won your seat. If the chip leader doesn't win this hand, one of the 2 shorties might still be eliminated, depending on which player out of those win the hand. Assuming the guy with the least chips wins this hand, the other shorty is down (in my example) to 1BB or less...he will not be around for long.

You have nothing to gain by playing this hand, and everything to lose - swallow the pride and fold that AA in this situation!

Bolcs' post, I should have mentioned earlier, is a very good post regarding satellite play. It really is amazing how many bad plays you see by players who have no need to make such plays. For instance, the final player eliminated in a MTT satellite (105 runners, 10 paid) that I was in was 3rd in chips and let his ego get in the way of the chipleader bullying his (and everyone else's) blinds around the last few orbits, and went all-in with AQ. Easy call for chipleader to make with AK, and all were happy to see the chipleader win the hand...especially the short stack, since he would have all-in with via the BB in 2 hands!

Made it 4 wins in a row tonight in the Stars 400 FPP satellite - not gonna post another screenshot like I did last night....but I did want to show a couple of hands here to show both good and bad endgame strategy.

Here's a prime example of a major mistake made by a player which ended up crippling him - 7 pay, 8 left at this stage, and I'm the short stack (but not by much) here:

PokerStars Game #5969827246: Tournament #29682502, 400FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level X (400/800) - 2006/08/19 - 00:20:29 (ET)
Table '29682502 3' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 1: dkeith (24993 in chips)
Seat 2: HumptyD (18391 in chips)
Seat 3: jirsa52 (15466 in chips)
Seat 4: BKrywko1 (5963 in chips) I have a little over 7BB - if I get a decent hand, I'm almost certain to push hard here - a standard 3-4x BB raise is going to pot-commit me, anyways, so let's make it cost more for someone to call
Seat 5: Placidus (7167 in chips)
Seat 6: Siouxman7417 (16163 in chips)
Seat 8: gn7025 (13465 in chips)
Seat 9: Blueguy1 (6392 in chips)
dkeith: posts the ante 50
HumptyD: posts the ante 50
jirsa52: posts the ante 50
BKrywko1: posts the ante 50
Placidus: posts the ante 50
Siouxman7417: posts the ante 50
gn7025: posts the ante 50
Blueguy1: posts the ante 50
gn7025: posts small blind 400
Blueguy1: posts big blind 800
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [Qs Ad] - Now this is more than good enough to push here - if I don't get a call, I don't mind picking up the blinds and antes, since I won't be the short-stack anymore
dkeith: folds
HumptyD: folds
jirsa52: folds
BKrywko1: raises 5113 to 5913 and is all-in
Placidus: folds
Siouxman7417: folds
gn7025: folds
Blueguy1: calls 5113
*** FLOP *** [Ks Kc 6h]
*** TURN *** [Ks Kc 6h] 3♦
*** RIVER *** [Ks Kc 6h 3d] 9♠
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Blueguy1: shows [5d Ah] (a pair of Kings) MAJOR mistake calling off nearly all his chips here - now he doesn't have enough to even put in the small blind here
BKrywko1: shows [Qs Ad] (a pair of Kings - Ace+Queen kicker)
BKrywko1 collected 12626 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 12626 | Rake 0
Board [Ks Kc 6h 3d 9s]
Seat 1: dkeith folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: HumptyD folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: jirsa52 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: BKrywko1 showed [Qs Ad] and won (12626) with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Placidus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Siouxman7417 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: gn7025 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: Blueguy1 (big blind) showed [5d Ah] and lost with a pair of Kings

Very next hand - good example of all players just checking this hand down, unless they get the nuts:

PokerStars Game #5969836910: Tournament #29682502, 400FPP Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (600/1200) - 2006/08/19 - 00:21:17 (ET)
Table '29682502 3' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: dkeith (24943 in chips)
Seat 2: HumptyD (18341 in chips)
Seat 3: jirsa52 (15416 in chips)
Seat 4: BKrywko1 (12626 in chips)
Seat 5: Placidus (7117 in chips)
Seat 6: Siouxman7417 (16113 in chips)
Seat 8: gn7025 (13015 in chips)
Seat 9: Blueguy1 (429 in chips)
dkeith: posts the ante 75
HumptyD: posts the ante 75
jirsa52: posts the ante 75
BKrywko1: posts the ante 75
Placidus: posts the ante 75
Siouxman7417: posts the ante 75
gn7025: posts the ante 75
Blueguy1: posts the ante 75
Blueguy1: posts small blind 354 and is all-in
dkeith: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to BKrywko1 [7s 7h] Good enough hand to call the BB, as long as no one else gets jiggy with their hands
HumptyD: folds
jirsa52: calls 1200
BKrywko1: calls 1200
Placidus: folds
Siouxman7417: folds
gn7025: folds
dkeith: checks
*** FLOP *** [3h 6s 9d]
dkeith: checks
jirsa52: checks
BKrywko1: checks
*** TURN *** [3h 6s 9d] 9♥
dkeith: checks
jirsa52: checks
BKrywko1: checks
*** RIVER *** [3h 6s 9d 9h] 8♠
dkeith: checks
jirsa52: checks
BKrywko1: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
dkeith: shows [Ts 8h] (two pair, Nines and Eights)
jirsa52: mucks hand
BKrywko1: shows [7s 7h] (two pair, Nines and Sevens)
dkeith collected 2538 from side pot
Blueguy1: mucks hand
dkeith collected 2016 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4554 Main pot 2016. Side pot 2538. | Rake 0
Board [3h 6s 9d 9h 8s]
Seat 1: dkeith (big blind) showed [Ts 8h] and won (4554) with two pair, Nines and Eights
Seat 2: HumptyD folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: jirsa52 mucked [Kh Qs]
Seat 4: BKrywko1 showed [7s 7h] and lost with two pair, Nines and Sevens
Seat 5: Placidus folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Siouxman7417 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: gn7025 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Blueguy1 (small blind) mucked [Qc 3d]

There was no need by anyone to bet out here (even though I would have had the best hand if I bet and chased everyone else out) - you should give the other 2 players a chance to make a hand good enough to win, since as long as the all-in doesn't win, it's the end of the satellite, and everyone goes home happy.

Obviously, the guy that called your all-in with ace-5 off suit is a major Donk. I can't beleive the amount of people on line that think any ace is the nuts. To me, ace-small is only a blind stealing hand from late postition and nothing more. Nothing better than seeing a Donk like that lose.

Congrats and Good luck to you bolcs5.

I qualified for the exact same tournament through a satellite earlier in the week. It will only be my second time playing it, but hopefully I won't get crushed as bad as last time.

The rebuy part is what seems to be the killer. Like many rebuy torunies, it seems to draw a lot of people with flexible bankrolls that just try to build a stack early. I find that getting through the 1st hour with rebuys is the toughest part.

As for the satellite strategies, you have it pretty much perfect as to what I try to do.