Ready for your championship run? LearnWPT is here to help with a free, six-part tournament preparation series designed to sharpen your skills and boost your confidence before the cards are in the air.

In this blog, we focus on ICM, Bubble, and Satellite Strategy, key concepts for getting in the game and finishing strong.

The December WPT World Championship festival offers poker players a chance to turn a small buy-in into a life-changing score through one of the 25+ live satellites at Wynn Las Vegas. If you secure a seat and make a deep run, you’ll face critical decisions near the money bubble, around big pay jumps, and approaching the final table.

How well you adjust in these situations will play a huge part in how many zeros are at the end of your pay slip. Let's get you ready...

ICM, Bubble, & Satellite Warm-Up Session

Tournaments have specific inflection points where the threat of elimination plays a large role in shaping decisions. Bubble, ICM, and Satellite Strategy are critical areas of study to make big scores and win seats to high buy-in events for small investments.

In this session, Instructors Eric "Rizen" Lynch and Adrian Naggy focus on the factors you need to consider when facing a tough decision on the Bubble, as well as specific differences between satellites and traditional multi-table tournaments. We’ll discuss how ICM (Independent Chip Model) influences hand ranges and betting, plus outline specific strategy for Milestone Satellites.

💡Member tip: Watch all previous study sessions anytime from the Webinar Dashboard.

🛰️ Satellite Into a Championship Event!

Satellite tournaments are a great way to play a larger buy-in event at a lower price so you don’t need to have big bucks to be in contention for a game-changing score. Strategies for Satellites can be very different from a normal Tournament, and you’ll need to make some adjustments that may seem strange compared to standard tournaments to help increase your edge in a satellite.

Use these strategies to sharpen your focus and maybe you’ll turn a few bucks into a huge payday...

Should You Play Satellites Differently? YES YOU SHOULD!

Approaching satellite play with the same strategy used in a regular poker tournament will often result in you busting when you would otherwise have a seat to the target tournament locked up.

Watch this Strategy Episode from LearnWPT Instructor Nick Binger as he discusses the key adjustments you need to make when playing Satellite Poker Tournaments.

Tips for Milestone Satellite Play

In a Milestone Satellite a player must accumulate a specific chip stack amount designated by the poker room ("The Milestone") to be awarded the tournament prize. The Milestone amount required to win the seat for each tournament is usually noted in the rules and structure sheet (under Milestone Rules).

As in a traditional satellite format, players may also win a seat by surviving until the number of seats available in the prize pool equals the number of players remaining, however achieving a verified Milestone stack at any point in the Tournament automatically guarantees that player a seat to the target event.

Example: You are playing a $1,100 buy-in Milestone Satellite to the $10,400 buy-in WPT World Championship with a starting chip stack of 20,000 and the "Milestone" is 220,000 chips. Once a player's chip stack reaches 220,000 chips they are instantly awarded a seat into the event and their chips removed from play.

The satellite will conclude when the number of players remaining is equal to the number of $10,400 prizes generated based on the Tournament Prize formula, less the amount of players who have previously won by reaching The Milestone.

• Milestone Satellites prioritize a riskier playing style than traditional satellites, similar to bounty tournaments
• Specific opponent tendencies play a big factor in your approach and dictate whether going for the Milestone is a priority
• Larger raise sizes may have increased fold equity against opponents close to the Milestone (within 5-10BBs) due to poor risk/reward
• Don’t lose sight of the Milestone in later stages when effective stacks are shallow - a few preflop steals could be enough to secure your seat
• The endgame of a Milestone satellite can be chaotic - stay focused on the best strategy for your stack size and specific table conditions
• Remember that you don’t always have to get to the Milestone to win a seat, you can still use traditional satellite strategy and have a good chance

Take these strategies to the Wynn poker room and play a Milestone Satellite to secure your seat into a festival event. Check out the full schedule here for a list of Milestone Satellites for various events.

Have Satellite Strategy questions? Members can talk directly and get answers from the LearnWPT Pros in our Ask a Pro Discord!

Understanding Bubble Play

Many poker players go into “lockdown” mode when approaching the bubble, hoping to avoid facing tough decisions until they are for sure guaranteed at least the minimum cash. While it’s always great to lock up some profit, most often they miss huge opportunities to gain chips and set themselves up for a deep run.

In this LearnWPT Strategy Episode Nick introduces Bubble Play and how to use aggression on the bubble in a tournament to help improve your chances of accumulating chips and maximize your ROI (return on investment).

ICM Pressure on Preflop Ranges

Strategy adjustments for various tournament stages must consider the impact of ICM and the specific factors in play at your table. When there are different stack sizes and a huge gap in pay between 1st and 9th place, making the most profitable decisions can seem daunting.

When you are the chip leader at a final table it’s also crucial to understand how dramatic ICM will affect your opponent’s strategy, and when you can use ruthless aggression to punish your foes on the way to victory. In both cases, the key to making better decisions with ICM in play starts with adjusting first-in hand ranges.

Watch this Strategy Episode as Nick breaks down ranges and adjustments across stack sizes and describes how you should be approaching these spots at your next final table.

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