Live Main Event Super Satellites

[Doylestown]

In 2004 I took 4 swings at the Borgata WPT Main Event via multi table supersatellite. They were running the $200 rebuys that year. In each of the 4 events I was within a table or two of getting my seat and failed, essentially bubbling all 4 times. They were all large fields ranging from several hundred to nearly 600 players on my final try. The end result was I "dumped" nearly $3500 trying to win a 10K seat. After my final attempt I ran into a player that I had played against in a couple of the supers who also burned alot of $ trying for the seat. He said "I would've been better off just buying into the damn event". That statement hit home and since that day I haven't attempted another super for entry into a main event.

I've been wrestling with a desire to play some main events and have come really close to just plunking down the 10K to do so but in the end I realize it's just too big a % of bankroll to take what's essentially a random shot. This has again led me back to thinking about giving supers another try, but I am less than sure that this a +EV move.

I normally buy right into a handful of the sub events when they come to AC and wonder if the cash I would need to dedicate to another round of supers would be better spent buying into some additional $1000-$2500 events as AC is finally hosting these types on a more regular basis now.

So I suppose the question is would one be better off taking a "fictional $2500" and playing a $1500 and $1000 event or dedicating that cash to some supers? Is there any way to put math to this question?

Please discuss.

[Doylestown]

Has anybody went through the thought process of what to do with their bankroll in these situations?

[LearnedfromTV]

It comes down to whether you have a bigger edge in a supersat than in a normal tourney. If you do, it's worth it, provided the 10K's aren't such a big proportion of your bankroll that you have absolutely no business in one. Like if you only have 5K and use all of it to sat into a 10K. I'm guessing this isn't your situation.

If you have a 100K bankroll and want to play some 10K's, you aren't way out of your element bankroll-wise, especially if you can win in for half price on average. On the other hand, buying into a 2.5K and winning cash to use in bigger buyins is equivalent to buying into 2.5K worth of satellites. Only difference is you are forced to spend your winnings in a specific place. If the fun of playing a big event is worth it, then that doesn't matter.

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Has anybody went through the thought process of what to do with their bankroll in these situations?

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One Saturday at the Bellagio I really wanted to play the $1,000 weekly tournament but only had $2,000 committed to my Vegas trip bankroll.

I thought long and hard about it for about an hour and decided to buy into a $200 STS with top two getting the $1,000.00

to my left was none other than WPT final tablist and WSOP braclet winner Mel Judha... god dammit I said out loud.

I got lucky and won a seat (but that's a different post). The important thing I took away from the event was a conversation I had with Mel...

I'll never forget what he said. "Kid... If you can't beat out a field of 1/5 , 1/10th, or 1/100th of the real tournament to win a seat... what chance do you honestly think you have in the real deal"

[BS Yee]

I have a friend who's theory on Supers is very debateable but it works for him. At the WSOP there are Supers that are $200 + $30 with unlimited rebuys until the break at 90 min. The rounds are 5/10, 10/20, 15/30. After the break it becomes 25/50 and the rounds are 20 minutes. It takes about four hours (irregardless of the field size) to award however many $10K seats.

He prefers to show up right before the break and buyin for a $200 and does not rebuy. Because everyone else has probably done multiple rebuys and will do add ons at the break, he'll be trying to double up and play with their money. Of course, you have to win your first two or three coinflips and then you can throttle back a bit.

If you bust out shortly, which happens more often than not, you end up investing minimal money and minimal time.

Does it work? I saw him win two $10,000 seats in three days just before the Main Event. He claims he always wins multiple seats at the WSOP this way. I don't have a reason to doubt him.

Because the Supers are essentially races because of limited chips and increasing blinds, I don't discount this way of attacking it. I played in some Supers this past year with WSOP ME winners, bracelet winners, etc. I was a little shocked to see such "slumming" but, as my friend put it, some players see this as a +EV situation.

The WSOP main event is different since there are 40 + days of Supers with two Supers per day. If you have a limited number of attempts, then this wouldn't be the way to play. But for limited bankrolls, it is worth considering.