Taking into account, that variance could have spelled disaster, and no matter how good a player you are, there will be times you could bust out before you make the money.
Like someone commented "A bird in the hand is better than two in a bush" I would be happy to take the $500 cash, and carry on playing, Satellites are great for getting to higher buy-ins for a small stake, but even if you won that $1K ticket, there is no guarantees you could have made more than the $500 in that game.
I have made the money in a few Free-rolls and have even won a couple but at the same time I have busted out on the first hand in some, by getting A/A dealt on the very first hand and someone crushed them by hitting a better hand on the flop, it happens, and why play poker if you are not willing to call an all-in with pocket rockets.
When it comes to poker you can have fun buying in for small stakes and losing like that because if you take it too serious you would probably have to fold that A/A first hand.
I have played a few satellite games and done well in them, but as the stakes go up you are coming up against some more seasoned, professional players, who can afford to lose bigger amounts, because they win some of the larger buy-ins and therefore more money.
When the fun Stops, STOP!
