One of the main advantages of playing satellite tournaments is facing a generally weaker field, as professionals do not usually invest so much time in satellites. In addition, many play as if these tournaments are the same as all other tournaments, which we will show here that is not true. Answer quickly: would you fold an AA after an opponent's preflop all-in? The natural answer is “never”, as it is the strongest hand pre-flop, isn't it? Be aware that in satellite tournaments it may be correct to drop AA pre-flop. For example, imagine that you are the second in chips in a turbo satellite tournament that rewards 20 players and there are 21 players alive, meaning you are in the tournament bubble. The player with the least chips has the equivalent of two stack blinds. The chip leader goes all-in and you look at your AA. The best thing to do in this case, oddly enough, is to fold the AA. That's because, being second in chips, you will certainly be in the top 20 and win the prize. It is a matter of time before one of the short stacks is eliminated, so even though your AA equity is approximately 90%, the other 10% risk of losing your hand (and consequently the prize in the biggest tournament) makes it call a bad move. Simply drop AA and just wait to beat the satellite. Did you notice how satellites require a different strategy than other tournaments? Strategies like "playing to be champion" and "pressing the bubble" sometimes lose their validity in this type of tournament, for the reasons mentioned here.
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