The WSOP needs a lot more online satellites
With the news that GGPoker are sending 600 players to the WSOP this year, Barry Carter wishes out loud that it could be even more.
This week GGPoker announced they were sending at least 600 players to the World Series of Poker Main Event via online satellites. Last year they sent around 300, so are essentially doubling their qualifiers in 2023.
If this year's Main Event matched the 2022 tournament in terms of entrants, that would mean 7% of the field would have qualified via GGPoker.
It's both an exciting and frustrating statistic. We have seen from the PSPC & WPT World Championship that sending more amateurs to big events benefits everybody. However, the overall number of online qualifiers for the Main Event should be much bigger. Somewhere along the way, the WSOP or the wider industry dropped the ball with regards to online qualification.
Every site used to offer satellites
There was a time that every major operator hosted a number of online qualifiers, they also had their own 'Lounges' at the Rio. PokerStars alone sent over 2,000 qualifiers in 2008, which was almost a third of the field.
These were, of course, peak boom times in poker which perhaps we cannot replicate, but the WSOP shifted to a model of only allowing approved partners (mostly WSOP.com and 888poker, then later on GGPoker) to offer satellites. Other operators could, but they couldn't call them 'WSOP satellites' nor could they buy in to the event on behalf of the players.
These were not the only issues. Poker rooms had reduced sponsorship opportunities in terms of patching up players for the Main Event broadcast, so offering satellites was less appealing. I suspect the staking economy also reduced demand for satellites, why try and qualify when you can get backed instead?
Whatever the hurdles, there is something special about an online qualifier doing well in the target tournament. We have seen this magic in the PSPC & WPT World Championship, we also saw it with the recent Triton series where Mark Rubbathan qualified for the high-stakes Mystery Bounty and won it.
Poker is booming, it could be even bigger
I have a vested interest in this. I have written a satellite book and an increase in satellite activity will no doubt lead to an increase in sales. My proudest achievement as a writer is when somebody tweets us to say they qualified for a big event thanks to that book.
It's a real win/win not only for us the authors and the player, but for the operator too. We have been told by several operators that they think their satellite traffic has increased since we released Poker Satellite Strategy, which is likely because it has sold a lot of copies. My point is that simply putting more focus on satellites again will lead to more people playing them.
Poker is booming right now, especially live poker. With the renewed interest in live poker it seems like we should be spending more time pushing online satellites. It's great that GGPoker are sending so many players this year and they have a very good shot at creating this year's Champion (an extra $1 million goes to that player if they do).
No offence to GGPoker but I wish the WSOP would lift the exclusivity and barriers they have to make satellites an option for every online operator. Online satellites remain one of the best organic marketing tools we have in poker and we are not using them as well as we should.
Are you going to try and qualify for the Main Event? Let us know in the comments:
