Best WSOP Satellite Poker Sites
The WSOP (World Series of Poker) is inarguably the largest poker event of the year. It is nationally televised and it embraces the dreams of millions to compete and take home a bracelet. Beyond the bracelet, poker players can all envision making it down to the final two with that big pile of cash sitting on the table in the middle wondering each and every hand if it’s going to be yours or theirs.
The WSOP has had winners sponsored by a variety of online poker sites. These sites include PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Bodog Poker. Online poker rooms offer a ton of satellite tournaments to win a seat at the WSOP and even more satellites to get to satellites. This tiered format allows players to invest as low as a few dollars and potentially work their way up to a seat at the main event. Chris Moneymaker turned a $20 buy-in into a seat at the WSOP and eventually won the 2003 WSOP for $2.5 million.
PokerStars is the largest online poker site based on traffic and they sponsor hundreds of seats to the WSOP each and every year. PokerStars offers a variety of ways to get to the WSOP.
The cheapest route is through using Frequent Player Points (FPPs). You can use roughly 40 FPPs to get into the FPP final tournament. The winner of the final goes to the WSOP.
PokerStars also offers buy-in tournaments that work in step programs. The lowest buy-in is around $7.50. The steps contain six levels. Once you’ve passed these levels, you win a seat to the WSOP. You can also buy-in to the $7.50 tournament for around 500 FPPs.
PokerStars also offers sit n gos in both single and multi-table formats. The buy-ins for these range anywhere from $2 to $1,050. Through the sit n gos you can win a seat to the WSOP. Should you go to the WSOP and win, PokerStars will give you a bonus of $1 million.
PokerStars sponsors quite a few professionals including four WSOP champions: Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and the youngest ever, Joe Cada.
Full Tilt Poker WSOP Satellites
Full Tilt Poker boasts the fact that they send roughly 500 or more players to the WSOP each and every year. They offer quite a few ways for players to win a seat to the glorious main event.
Full Tilt Poker has a $216 shootout to win a seat. They offer satellites to the shootout for as low as $8. They also offer a $500 event on Sundays that guarantees 2 seats to the WSOP. Satellites for this event are also available, with buy-ins ranging from $1 to $100.
On Saturdays, Full Tilt offers a $300 tourney that guarantees 2 seats to the WSOP. Mini-Satellites to get into the $300 tourney range from $1 to $50. Full Tilt Poker has $1k Thursdays with one out of every twelve players getting a package deal to go to Vegas for the WSOP. Satellites for the $1k Thursday range from $1 to $100.
Full Tilt Poker also offers $200 Wednesdays. If you don’t want to buy-in for $200, they offer three satellites for $10, $24 and $69. The lower buy-in satellites will obviously have another step involved or have a larger playing field.
The final way to get to the WSOP through Full Tilt is to play in the 150 seat guaranteed. This is a huge pool worth $1.8 million, and it guarantees a seat to the WSOP for 150 people. If you happen to get a seat and win the WSOP being sponsored by Full Tilt, you will receive a $10 million bonus.
Bodog Poker WSOP Satellites
Bodog Poker offers a few different methods to get to the WSOP. Bodog runs cheap seats that are offered twice daily for $1 and $1.50. This is considered a satellite to advance to the $27 quarterfinal. They also offer a $27 or $54 last chance option to get a seat to the WSOP. They refer to this as the quarterfinal with winners moving on to the semifinal.
The semifinal buy-in is $250 and seats are awarded for the main event, the WSOP.
If you win a seat to the WSOP through Bodog Poker, you are given a package worth $12,000. Included in this package is the airfare, travel accommodations and Bodog merchandise. You will also be invited to partake in the players club.
The WSOP is the highlight of the poker world and players dream of winning this glorious event. The three sites mentioned have plenty of opportunities for a low investment to capitalize and make this dream a reality. PokerStars has a reputation for producing winners. Full Tilt Poker always hosts professionals that end up doing really well if not winning the whole thing. Bodog Poker is a little smaller than the other two in terms of traffic but also awards plenty of seats and opportunities for players to get their chance at the main event.