Stars $33R WSOP Sat Strategy on 1st Bubble

[kindling]

So the $33R WSOP Sats award 1 Seat guaranteed. However, they award the prize pool above $11K (assuming it doesn't get to $22K) in $650 prizes (cost of the Sunday WSOP Sat, which awards many more seats).

If the prize pool for a given $33R is under $22K, they're giving away 1-16 prizes of $650, in addition to the seat. There's usually a handful at least of these prizes in each tourney.

So as you're approaching the 1st bubble where they start to award the $650, do you play it as a normal satellite bubble? Or do you ignore it and focus on the seat?

I expect that if they only had 1 of these $650 prizes, you have to play for 1st. If they have 16 x $650 plus a seat, then I would be tempted to guarantee that I got ITM before I got too aggressive. The $650 would allow me to play in the Sunday tournament, 2 of the $320 Saturday tourneys, or play a bunch more $33R to try again. I don't think I could ignore it.

How do players behave in reality in these?

I believe low limit players without much MTT experience will play tighter on the mini-bubble to guarantee a payday, especially when they are paying more than 10 $650s. Just know the opposition. This is where pokerdb really comes in handy.