Hundreds of thousands of poker players worldwide dream of winning the World Series of Poker Main Event. Year after year, we’ve watched amateur players like Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer take down millions in the WSOP Main Event. So how were these guys able to pony-up the $10,000 entry? The answer; they qualified through World Series of Poker Satellite Tournaments online.

All major online poker sites carry these satellites which cost anywhere from $3-$1000 to enter. But wouldn’t it be twice as incredible to win a seat at the World Series of Poker for FREE?! This is especially true if you have a small bankroll (I don’t care what she told you… size DOES matter). With the growing popularity of poker - online and live, poker sites are doing whatever they can to give you a free shot at WSOP fame and fortune (while wearing their site’s logo of course).

I’ve been busy trying to win my own free seat at the 2008 WSOP, and decided to put together this guide to help you do the same. It’s going to take some dedication and focus to beat the large fields and win a seat, but you can do it. I invite you to check out my 11 ways to win a seat at the World Series of Poker for FREE, so you can secure your spot at the most popular poker tournament in the world.

Poker Stars World Series of Poker Satellites and Qualifiers

NUMBER OF FREE SEATS: 80+
DATES: NOW - June 28th 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: http://www.pokerstars.com/wsop/giveaway/
DOWNLOAD THEIR FREE SOFTWARE AT: http://www.pokerstars.com

1) PokerStars FREE WSOP Satellites

Poker Stars offers the the easiest and most convenient World Series of Poker satellites that I’ve found. They have a new Round 1 tournament starting every hour. Every player is eligible to play one Round 1 freeroll tournament per week. The top 50 players from each Round 1, get to choose one of three weekly finals to play in.

PokerStars WSOP Satellite Strategy: For these tournaments I would recommend playing in whatever style you are most comfortable with. If you like to see a lot of flops, you’re going to be getting good odds most of the time. If you’re more conservative, you can sit back and watch everyone take each other out. I’m more comfortable playing tight-aggressive. Blinds go up every 5 minutes so you’re going to be looking for a spot to double up within the first few rounds of play. People are seeing a lot of flops so make sure you push your big hands to the max. Early on, I raised KK 15 times the blind and got one or two callers. Your main goal is to keep from getting blinded away. If you can build a big stack early on, you’ll be in good shape to target smaller stacks later.

2) Poker Stars FPP WSOP Multi-Table Qualifiers

Instead of using your bankroll, you can use your Frequent Player Points to win a seat at the World Series of Poker. Frequent player point satellites start for as little as 40 FPPs

3) Poker Stars FPP WSOP Steps Sit-n-Go Satellites

Just like the multi-table WSOP qualifiers, you can use your Frequent Player Points for these Steps Sit-n-Gos. Starting at 500 FPPS, they are much higher than the multi-table satellites. However, you obviously have a better shot at winning since each SNG is only one table. Although I haven’t tried these yet, they seem like a fun (and FREE) way to win a seat at the World Series of Poker.

4) Poker Stars [NEW PLAYERS ONLY]: Get $50 FREE cash to play WSOP Satellites

When you sign up for a new Poker Stars account and deposit $50 they will give you another $50 FREE. You can use that free money to play WSOP satellite qualifiers for as little as $3 each.

DOWNLOAD POKERSTARS AND START PLAYING FREE WSOP SATELLITES NOW! Make sure you enter the bonus code FIRST2008 when you sign up to get your $50 in free poker cash.

Full Tilt Poker’s World Series of Poker Satellites and Qualifiers

NUMBER OF FREE SEATS: 50+
DATES: Now - June
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/series-2008-race-main-event
DOWNLOAD THEIR FREE SOFTWARE AT: http://www.fulltiltpoker.com

5) Full Tilt Poker Race to the Main Event Round 1 Freerolls

Full Tilt has a 225-person Round 1 WSOP Freeroll starting every five (5) minutes. The good news is that you can play as many of these as your want. The bad news is that they have it set up extremely tricky. You have to actively watch the lobby for a new one to pop up and then be fast enough to register. You have about 3 seconds to get in one of these tournaments. The blinds go up every couple of minutes so the action is fast and furious. These tournaments seem to only last about an hour, so it makes sense to play as many as you can at one time. Here’s a visual aid to help you successfully get into the Full Tilt WSOP Round 1 Freerolls.

STEP 1: Open the Full Tilt Poker main lobby and click TOURNAMENTS then SERIES to open all their World Series of Poker Satellites. (Make you have BUY-IN set to show the lowest first)

STEP 2: Leave your cursor (pointer) positioned at the very top of the freeroll list. Now, watch the screen closely for the next few minutes. When a new freeroll pops up you have to quickly double-click it to open the Registration Screen.

STEP 3: If you’ve gotten this far DON’T slow down now! You must quickly click the REGISTER NOW button in the top right corner.

It’s actually pretty exciting to try to get in these Round 1 freerolls.

You can repeat this process with as many tournaments as you can get into.

Full Tilt Poker WSOP Satellite Strategy: Once you’ve made it in, get ready to play the biggest donkament ever. People are moving in with just about any too cards. I play the opposite. My strategy is to move in with only AA,KK,QQ,JJ and AK early on. I’ll try to see a cheap flop with hands like AQ, AJ, KQ, low-mid pocket pairs, and suited connectors. Because I know if they hit, they are going to bust a player or two. If I don’t see any big hands in the first 20 minutes it’s time to loosen up my pushing requirements to all the hands listed above plus a few more.

6)Full Tilt Poker [NEW PLAYERS ONLY]: Get a shortcut to Round 2

Forget about trying to win one of these Round 1 donkaments. If you sign up NOW you will get a free entry into the Round 2 tournament of your choice.

7)Full Tilt Poker [NEW PLAYERS ONLY]: $600 in free money to play WSOP satellites

In addition to your free pass to Round 2, you can get up to $600 free cash when you make a deposit. You can use this free poker money to play World Series of Poker satellites.

ADVANCED TIP: On Sunday June 15th 2008 Full Tilt is having a mind-blowing 150 Seat Guaranteed World Series of Poker Satellite. The buy-in is a steep $535, but you just got $600 FREE! This tournament will give players the maximum chance to win a seat at the World Series of Poker.

DOWNLOAD FULL TILT POKER AND START PLAYING FREE WSOP SATELLITES NOW! Make sure you enter the poker bonus code GULFCOASTPOKER to get your $600 free poker cash.

8)Full Tilt Poker Main Event Finals THE EASY WAY

By far the easiest way to make it to the Full Tilt Poker WSOP Finals is by earning 3000 Full Tilt Points in a qualifying week. This is for new and existing players. You can earn up to 3 points for every raked hand you play, or 7 points for every dollar in tournament fees. Rack up 3000 of these babies and you’ll receive an automatic entry into the weekly World Series of Poker Satellite Finals where you can win one of several $12,500 WSOP prize packages.

Cake Poker World Series of Poker Satellites and Qualifiers

NUMBER OF FREE SEATS: 50+
DATES: Now-June
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: http://cakepoker.com/WSOP2008/Rewards.aspx
DOWNLOAD THEIR FREE SOFTWARE AT: http://www.cakepoker.com

9) Cake Poker Gold Chip World Series of Poker Satellites

For every 5 Gold Chips that you earn, you can use them to buy-in to the 5GC Daily WSOP Satellite where the top 10 finishers move on to play for a $12,000 seat.

10) Cake Poker Gold Card Lottery

Through their Gold Card Lottery, Cake Poker is offering players an opportunity to win a seat without playing a hand in a tournament. Just like Gold Chips, you earn Gold Cards by playing cash games. Each day you can login to your Cake Poker account to see if you have the matching Gold Card(s) needed to win a seat at the World Series of Poker.

11) Cake Poker [NEW PLAYERS ONLY]: Get $500 FREE to play WSOP Cash Qualifiers

Just like the other rooms, Cake Poker is giving new players a great deposit bonus of 100% up to $500. You can parlay this free poker cash to WSOP Satellites and earn your shot at millions!

DOWNLOAD CAKE POKER AND START PLAYING FREE WSOP SATELLITES NOW! Make sure you enter the poker bonus code GULFCOASTPOKER to get your $500 free poker cash.

World Series of Poker Satellite Endgame Strategy

If you’re fortunate enough to make it to the end of some of these satellites you’ve got to adjust your game accordingly. Whether you are playing for a seat to a Main Event Final Qualifier or for an actual seat at the WSOP, makes no difference. Your main focus throughout the tournament is to pick up chips whenever possible. It doesn’t matter if it is from one of the big stacks or not, everybody’s chips are fair game.

Towards the end of a satellite tournament things (should) change. If you have a lot of chips compared to the blinds, your focus should be to teaming up on the short stacks. That means calling all-ins with good odds and aggressively raising the small stacks. Don’t bet other medium-large stacks out of an all-in pot without a big hand (flush draws, open-ended straight draws, and top pair are NOT big hands). Your goal is to get rid of the small stacks so you can secure a seat.

If you’re a low stack, you know that the larger stacks are waiting to pick you off. It’s basically shove-or-fold until you’re out of short stack mode or out of the satellite. Don’t be afraid to push some bad hands when you feel like it could take down the blinds. Don’t worry about getting called. You’ll never be drawing dead before the flop.

Now that I’ve given you my own strategies and ways to win a free seat at the 2008 World Series of Poker, it’s your turn!

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