Dec 10, 2013
ElkY, Greenstein, and Moneymaker offer 2014 PCA Satellite Tips
By RTR Dennis
We're now about a month away from the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, where millions of dollars will be given out. The 2014 PCA Main Event alone is set to offer $10 million in guaranteed money, which makes it a VERY attractive tournament. This is especially the case when you consider that Dimitar Danchev earned $1,859,000 for winning the 2013 PCA ME last year.
Assuming you want to compete for this kind of cash, keep in mind that the 2014 ME starts on January 7th at the Bahamas-based Atlantis Resort. If you're like most players, you probably don't have $10,300 sitting around for the buy-in. So you should definitely take a look at the satellites that PokerStars will be running throughout December. And while playing in these satellites, keep the following strategy advice from Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Barry Greenstein and Chris Moneymaker in mind.
Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier
If there's anybody who knows about the PCA Main Event, it's Bertrand Grospellier. After all, the Frenchman won this tournament and $2 million back in 2008. He says that satellites are very different from money-based tournaments because there are no prize differences - all you need to do is win one of the packages. Grospellier also thinks that players should only make big moves when they know that they have an edge. For example, when the bubble is nearing, you want to take advantage of the shorter stacks as much as possible.
Barry Greenstein
3-time WSOP champion Barry Greenstein bases his satellite strategy on the typical nature of his opponents. Greenstein says that most players are too tight and simply hope to sneak into the prize packages, rather than playing aggressively and taking advantage of good spots. So he likes to take big risks early, bully tight players, and build a big stack. This mentality allows him to force opponents into folds that they probably wouldn't make in normal tournaments.
Chris Moneymaker
Moneymaker launched his career after earning a $10k 2003 WSOP Main Event seat through a PokerStars satellite, and winning the WSOP ME along with $2.5 million. So when he talks satellites, we listen! Moneymaker likes to play his normal MTT game in the early and middle stages of satellites. Assuming he only has a short or middle stack in the later stages, he looks to take advantage of big stacks who are being too aggressive; these type of players present great re-stealing opportunities. From an overall sense, Moneymaker believes that stack sizes mean everything in the later stages. He advises that you always monitor your stack size in relation to the remaining field; this differs from Moneymaker's regular MTT strategy, where he almost never looks at other tables' chip stacks.
So there you have it, great PCA satellite advice from some of the world's best tournament pros. Keep their words in mind when trying to win your PCA seat over the next few weeks.