The World Series Of Poker

The WSOP is where poker dreams come true. No doubt about that. People like Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem are living proof. The reason it’s such an El-Dorado for poker players is, that it’s accessible to everyone and anyone. Anyone who has $10.000 to spare, ( like Hachem did ) that is…

But what do you do if your wife or family do not trust your poker skills enough to consider a buyin to the 2007 WSOP an inspired investment? Or what if you’re simply dead poor, but still, you consider yourself a good poker player?
Quitting out of the question, I guess all that’s left for you to do is to find an alternate approach.
Fortunately, nowadays the internet is full of such alternate opportunities. No longer do you need to cough up 10 thousand of your hard-earned dollars, a few bucks will do, coupled, of course, with tons of poker skill and a little bit of luck to top it all off.

Buyins for WSOP satellites range from a few dollars to $1000. Here, again, you’ll find that money does the talking for you. Basically it’s either that you have to pay more or you have to play better in order to qualify.

$1000 will buy you a seat a single-table tournament, the winner of which will not only get a WSOP seat but also some sort of travel-package: hotel room, dining, air fare paid etc.
Naturally, the less you pay, the more sub-satellites you’ll have to deal with. That means that if you take the longest route to the WSOP you may have to win as many as 5-6 tourneys in order to qualify. In this case, pure poker skill alone won’t help you to the top. You’d better get lucky too besides being pretty damn good if you want to make it.

At the bottom of the price-range there are the freerolls that cost players nothing to participate in. More and more online poker rooms, host such freerolls, but mind you, participation in these is generally conditioned by the fulfillment of certain membership criteria. You either have to make a hefty deposit, accumulate a huge chunk of player points ( which means you have to generate a lot of poker rake) , or do other heroic antics in order to be allowed to play.
The best and most cost-effective way to qualify to the 2007 WSOP would be to participate in a $100-$150 satellite. It is true that Chris Moneymaker bought in for only $40 in a pre-satellite which he went on to win. He then qualified for a direct satellite which he won too, in order to gain his WSOP seat. Needless to say, he later went on to win the WSOP, and take home the grand price. Now then, since few people are as skilled and as lucky as Mr. Moneymaker ( could that name have been a hint?) it’ll be a lot simpler to just go to the direct satellite.

Another wise move you can make, is to buy in to more satellites. This will increase your chances towards winning one. Word has it – and it does make sense – that if you’re unable to qualify to the WSOP buying in for a total of $5000 ( that is, half of the direct buyin) you’re probably not meant to be playing there anyway.

Don’t worry about finding satellites to buy in to. There are plenty of poker rooms out there, and most of them offer some kind of WSOP opportunity. Just take your time, look around and make the most of your qualifying bankroll.