Re: Rio Single Table Satellites
Disclaimer: This is all just my opinion. Don't blame me when someone wins eight consecutive coin flips and you go home empty-handed.
Deals:
So after getting HU in two of the lower buy-ins (125 and 175), I've developed a few thoughts about deals in the WSOP satellites. All of my experience has been low-level, but unless some of you have experience to the contrary, everything I've heard makes me think it will apply at higher levels.
1) Most of your opponents are worse than you are. They are tourists, wannabe "pros," or low-limit internet players looking for a big score. They are risk averse. As such, you should not be willing to accept anything less than a chips chop under any circumstances.
2) The satellites pay out in $500 buy-in chips, anywhere from two to a whole rack. All of them pay out a small amount of cash, usually $120-150, that can help slosh deal-making around a little bit. It is not trivial to get cash for a chip unless one of the players involved agrees to do it. I can't imagine trying to run around with a complete stranger selling a single $500 buy-in chip when no events are running. Pain in the butt... Now what this means is, unless someone is willing to break a chip, deals are discrete in increments of $500, +-$120.
3) Your risk-averse opponents may let you lock up your equity while still playing for some of theirs. Push hard for these types of deals. An example would be if your opponent had a 2:1 chip lead in a $175 (three chips+$120 cash), and you offered to save one chip each and play for the rest. You've locked up all but $40 of your equity and left $580 of your opponent's on the table. You are wagering $40 against $580 as a 2:1 dog. That's a great bet for you. The break-even deal is where you both lock up the same percentage of your equity, not the same $ amount.
4) If you are unsure, decline. Don't get confused. You will never lose money by playing it out if you absolutely cannot figure out if a deal offered by an equally-clueless opponent is good for you or not.
5) If you can break a chip with cash you have on hand, or can easily sell a chip whereas your opponent can't, use this to your advantage. Say you're even in chips, you can offer to chop a 275 (5 chips and $120 cash) as 5 chips to you, $1120 in cash to your opponent. It sounds stupid, but don't be afraid to offer a deal you'd never take yourself.
6) If you don't trust yourself to figure this all out on the fly, write down potential chops for the buy-in before you play. That way, you'll know where to draw the lines.
Anyways, have fun in these. Remember, ABP... Always Be Pwning.
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