All of our poker festivals are preceded by a string of satellite tournaments, giving our players a chance to get into the action for a fraction of the buy-in. These tournaments represent a great opportunity to play the bigger events, and possibly experience a tournament breakthrough. The guarantees in these satellites usually get bigger as we get closer to the target event, so how much value can these early satellites represent? The answer is: a whole lot of it!
Historical Numbers
The intrinsic value of a satellite does not reside in the number of guaranteed seats, but rather in the ratio of players paid, compared to their guarantee. The entries to seats awarded ratio in the early satellites can be as good as 1 in 7 players paid on average, as seen with the WSOP-C Playground last summer and the Winter Festival in January 2018, while the satellites closer to or within an Event have paid a maximum of 1 in 9 players throughout the year 2018.
Current Action
On the December and January daily schedule, you can find quite a bit of satellite action. Every week, you can choose between one WPTDeepStacks Satellite ($165 + $15) and two MILLIONS Main Event Step 1 Satellites ($80 + $10).
The Trend Continues
So far, the WPTDeepStacks Satellites (5 such events to date) have showered our players with anywhere between 25% and 100% in overlay value! These are held every Thursday until the 
WCC starts. Qualify early to play the $750,000 guaranteed WCC Main Event – the $1,650 WPTDeepStacks – for just $180, and reap some of that value!
And what about the MILLIONS Step Satellites? Eight Step 1s, one Step 2, and 1 Step 3 have taken place so far. They have also offered tremendous value; the majority of them had more than 50% in overlay, and as high as 150%!
Get It While It’s Hot!
These percentages, as the guarantees increase or as we get closer to the target event, get smaller, effectively reducing the value that they offer. Of course, it is still great to play in a Mega Satellite with lots of players and lots of seats on the line, but the math is clear: the earlier the better!
