Online Satellite Action

It shouldn't come as any surprise at all that online poker rooms and casinos would begin offering satellite tournaments for the 2004 World Series of Poker scheduled, as it is annually, for May at Binion's Horseshoe in Las Vegas, NV. Since last year's first prize (in excess of $3 million) was spirited away by a player (Chris Moneymaker) who got to the championship tournament via one of these cybersatellites, it makes sense that more gambling venues would be offering them. As the saying goes, you can't buy that kind of publicity.

It doesn't seem to matter that the U.S. government and most of the states within that union believe the laws they've passed since the Revolutionary War strictly ban gambling over the Internet. Okay, so they didn't have the net when the Pilgrims arrived (although these early settlers did gamble!). But during this season of growth for gambling, for the Web and for poker, American citizens are betting their cyberchips with impunity and total lack of fear. And one of their major goals is to win a seat into the granddaddy of all poker tournaments, the aforementioned World Series or WSOP as it's affectionately referred to by those in the know. The other goal is to win a trip to the smash hit World Poker Tour because with constant TV exposure, this is the new shining star in the poker sky.

Understanding that this is neither an endorsement to play or a condemnation, here are a three of the offerings for those who want to check out the current opportunities to emulate Mr. Moneymaker. (Annoyingly, even though the champ invested only $40 there to make his fortune, www.partypoker.com hasn't yet announced any satellites for the 2004 tourney. You can find numerous links on affiliate pages but none actually take you anywhere but the home page.)

When you visit www.gamingclubpoker.com you'll see that ten players could go with entry money in hand to Las Vegas for the World Series. To make sure they don't have to camp out in the keno lounge, this Aussie Millions/WSOP event is also supplying them with airfare (to and from), hotel accommodations, and $500 spare change. The site lists the tournament times, terms and conditions and although you can enter at various times, the first round is already underway.

At www.bugsysclub.com satellites are already underway but there are plenty of options to jump in. You can start your trip here for as little as a buck. Granted, you'll have to have more than a ton of talent to get off at the final stop without additional investment but I'm willing to wager it won't be nearly as much as you'd have to pay for an out-of-pocket buy-in the day of the big competition. And, if I'm reading the promotional literature correctly, they're offering more than one seat!

The folks at www.uplaypoker.com have a different approach to their tournament structure in that they use a playoff format that starts with the top 100 members playing for satellite entries. You'll have to register with the site to get additional information.