Just about everyone knows that when Chris Moneymaker won his seat to the 2003 Main Event for the World Series of Poker, he did it through a $39 satellite on PokerStars. Greg Raymer won his seat for the 2004 Main Event through a $160 double shootout. Satellite winners are everywhere in the poker world. You can find them online or in brick and mortar casinos. So why should you become a satellite player, too? They're an affordable, fun, and profitable way to play in big tournaments and build your bankroll.
 
The primary reason many people play satellite tournaments is because they do not have the bankroll to buy in to a bigger event.  This makes for a field that is generally full of weak players. The buy-ins for feeder tournaments into larger ones are often much less than the buy-in for the main tournament. If you're willing to go through two, or even three fields, you can often attempt to qualify for a bigger tournament for free or very cheap. If you're itching to play in the big Sunday Million Tournament on Pokerstars, but can't afford (or just don't want to spend) the $215 for the buy-in, there are plenty of options for you. You can play in a 500 FPP tournament and qualify for free. You can play in a $3 rebuy, a $3.30 triple shootout, an $11 rebuy or $11 triple shootout... The point is, there's an option for every bankroll out there to have a shot at the big tournament.
 
Another reason many people play satellite tournaments is for the payout structures, which are often quite flat. For example, most of the $11rebuy  Sunday satellites on PokerStars give a seat to the Sunday Million to 1 out of every 6 people who play. If you use good satellite strategy (which we will discuss in another article), your chances could be even better. Having a 1/6 chance to win your seat, even with rebuys, can mean you come out very much ahead. Alternatively, there are some satellite which have a very steep payout structure; maybe only 1 person out of 100 will win a seat. Many people like this kind of payout as well, because they feel it rewards the better players more.
 
 Let's look at another scenario. Let's say you have the chance to play in some $100 ten-person single-table satellites for a $1000 seat in a bigger event. Why not just take that $100 and play a cash game? It's possible you could win the $900 you still need in a ring game. However, the time required to turn $100 into $1000 in a ring game is often far more than the time you would invest in a single-table satellite. In poker, where the saying "time is money" can hold very true, a single-table satellite is often a better investment than a ring-game.
 
Playing in satellites can often give players the chance to feel like they're "freerolling" in a tournament, or that they have not committed more than they could afford to their entry fee. Many poker players agree that when you step out of your comfort zone, your play is affected negatively. If someone uses half of their $2000 bankroll to buy into a tournament for $1000, they might play much more cautiously than they would if they had invested $50 in a satellite to win that seat. The pyschology of putting your bankroll on the line can be too much for many players, whether they are aware of it or not.
 
One final reason to play satellites is they can be wonderful bankroll builders on certain sites. Many sites offer you the option to unregister from a tournament that you have won a seat in, and use the entry fee for other MTT and SNG tournaments. Through satellites, you can build up a large reserve of funds to play tournaments with that can ultimately win you cash. If you're a cash game player, satellites can also help you build your cash bankroll with a minimal time investment. PSMoney buys PokerStars Tournament Dollars ($T) at a rate of 91% (95% if you have a PSMoney avatar!), which will get you $195 cash for every Sunday Million seat you sell them. A lot of players find they prefer to win a seat and sell it for the cash simply because they like the liquidity it allows them to have. Some will sell part of their $T and keep the rest in reserve for tournament play, using the cash for ring games or cashouts. Any way you choose to do it, the $T system and PSMoney give players a wealth of choices for their satellite play.
 
Satellite play is a sound investment of time and money. Try one out today!