BodogLife Poker offered advice to online poker fans recently regarding how to choose, play and, with a bit of luck, win online poker satellite tournaments. With numerous Satellites on the BodogPoker tournament schedule, awarding prize packages to major live poker tournaments, online poker enthusiasts would do well to heed the enlightening counsel.

Ever since Chris Moneymaker earned a seat in the 2003 World Series of Poker through an online poker Satellite competition at PokerStars.com, then went on to win the WSOP Main Event that year, the popularity of Satellites has skyrocketed.

In the article, BodogLife.com started off by differentiating between the two types of satellite tournaments – winner-takes-all, where the 1st place winner is the only player rewarded, and prize pool based competitions, where the top finishers, based on the size of the field, are each rewarded.

Winner-takes-all tournaments generally have a smaller field, but can be difficult to overcome, for obvious reasons. Bodog Poker suggests players “come out fast and be aggressive from the start”, combining a fearless attitude with strong mental play in order to win.

Prize pool tournaments require a different strategy. You don’t have to win; you simply have to place high enough to earn a piece of the prize. This means the first thing you need to know is how many places are awarded. If it’s the top 50 finishers, your goal is to come in 50th position. Closer to 1st is fine, but 50 is the mission. You must also realize that everyone else is implementing the same strategy. To achieve this, Bodog Poker recommends “keep your stack growing at all times and avoid becoming a small stack at all costs.”

BodogPoker.com states that having a low stack is drawing a bulls-eye on your back. The fastest way to finish within the prize pool is to wipe out players on tilt. A higher stacked player is willing to take risks against a low stack with the hopes of eliminating them from the tournament, thereby getting closer to the goal. The big-stack player has little to lose, while the low stack is risking everything. When you are the low stack, taking on a big stack, make sure your cards are good enough to back it up.

The advice from Bodog Poker couldn’t have come at a better time for their members as the online pocker room is currently offering a multitude of Satellite competitions with prize packages to the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) and Asian Poker Tour (APT).

BodogPoker.com hosted its last Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament last weekend, with ‘docbox3’ outlasting the field to take the 1st place prize. Next Sunday, the BodogPoker $100k GTD will be permanently replaced by the new $250k guaranteed on Sunday, August 10.

After skillfully whittling his way through a field of 720 competitors, ‘docbox3’ was awarded the 1st place prize of $23,600. ‘SirStevie89’ put up a great fight in heads-up action, but came up short to earn $13,600 for the second place victory.

BodogPoker insists that, regardless of how many players enter, the $250,000 GTD prize pool will remain. It’s interesting that Bodog has chosen to up its largest prize pool by so much, when there’s hardly a field to cover the original $100,000. Last Sunday, 720 players turned out to compete for the prize, causing an overlay – great for the online poker players, but not so great for Bodog Poker, who must shell out the extra cash to cover the purse.

The online poker community as a whole will be keeping an eye on Bodog Poker next Sunday, whether directly or via online poker news headlines, to see if the spiked prize pool will be alluring enough to draw significantly more players into the field.

Bodog Poker has found itself in the media spotlight lately, having just seen members of Team Bodog do famously well at 2008 WSOP events. The online poker room also made headlines by awarding the first seats in the 2009 WSOP.

Perhaps it is the hopes of Bodog Poker big-wigs that this exceptional coverage will produce a much higher rate of traffic at the tournament tables. It hasn’t happened yet, but the dangling carrot of $250,000 up for grabs should be doubly enticing.

With the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) only a month away, it’s about time we get the chance to say this - “Badog.com Poker is hosting WSOPE Qualifiers!” Yes, they’ve been practically absent from the online poker world thus far, (appearing only at Full Tilt Poker), but Badog.com  has finally announced the addition of WSOPE Qualifiers in its online poker tournament schedule.

From now until the kick-off of the WSOPE Semifinal on September 7th, Badog Poker is holding WSOPE Qualifiers every day, with buy-ins starting as low as $1. All WSOPE Qualifiers lead the winning players towards a seat in the WSOPE Semifinal, which guarantees at least two seats in the WSOP Europe Main Event.

The prize package is worth a total of $24,000, including the approximate $20k buy-in to the WSOPE Main Event, plus round-trip airfare with opulent transportation service to and from the airport, luxury hotel accommodations, exclusive player gear from Team Badog.com and of course, some extra spending cash.

London, England will set the scene for the 2008 WSOPE Main Event, lasting 6 days from September 27th through October 2nd. An official bracelet event, the 2008 WSOPE, now in its second year, will for be broadcast on ESPN for the first time in the United States.

Last year, Badog Poker player Matt McCullough earned his seat in the European version of the world’s most prestigious live poker event through Bodog Poker qualifiers, and impressed the world by being the longest lasting American in the Main Event. McCullough finish in 3rd place, surviving a field of 623 to pocket $766,674.

“We’re excited to award our online qualifiers a prize package that allows them to live it up in London like they’ve already struck it rich, even before the first cards are dealt,” came the comments of Alwyn Morris, CEO of Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. “We had an incredible run at last year’s tournament with one of our online qualifiers, Matt McCullough, finishing third, and we’re hoping to see Bodog back at the final table again—this time taking home the bracelet.”

As the month of July has come to a close, we inch ever closer to September, when Poker Stars.com will host its amazingly lucrative World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 2008. That means there’s only about one month remaining to qualify for a seat in the 2008 WCOOP, guaranteeing a minimum of $30 million throughout the series – double the GP of last year’s WCOOP.

Starting September 5th, PokerStars.com will be hosting 33 events in the 2008 WCOOP, swathed in every poker variant PokerStars offers - Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, Razz, H.O.R.S.E., Triple Draw and others. Prize pools for early events vary, rising in excess of $2 million, leading up to the 2-day WCOOP Main Event on September 21st, worth a whopping $10,000,000 Guaranteed.

PokerStars began offering Multi-table and Sit’n’Go Satellites as well as Steps Qualifiers in early July. These tournaments, awarding seats in the $30 Million 2008 WCOOP, are still running daily at PokerStars with extremely cost effective entries. Cash qualifiers start as low as $2.20 while FPP satellites start at 100 points.

The WCOOP, which start back in 2002, has seen PokerStars continuously raising the bar with each year’s online poker series. In its first season, the WCOOP Main Event winner “MultiMarine” took home $65,450. The 2003 WCOOP Main Event went to “DeOhGee” winning more than triple the top prize from the previous year, $222,750. That nearly doubled again when “Radge” took down the 2004 WCOOP for $424,945. In 2005, more than half a million ($577,342) went to “Panella86”. Poker pro J.C. Tran took the top prize of $600,000 in the 2006 WCOOP, while “Ka$ino” broke the mold in 2007, earning an outstanding $1,378,330.

For those interested in taking part in the PokerStars 2008 WCOOP, visit www.PokerStars.com for further details and Satellite/Qualifier schedules. Even you don’t manage to win a seat in the 2008 WCOOP, a sizeable wallet of $5,200 will cover direct buy-in.

It was another weekend of extended prize pools at Full Tilt Poker Sunday as the online poker room hosted its largest weekly tournaments – the $250k Sunday Brawl, $150k Sunday Mulligan and Sunday $750k Guaranteed. The top honors go to “syzygy-1-1-1-1”, taking down the $750k Guaranteed for the day’s most lucrative prize of $143,285.

Let’s review the tournament line-up and winners at www.FullTiltPoker.com, starting with the knock-out stylings of the Full Tilt $250k Sunday Brawl.

1,822 participants turned out to converge on the tables, increasing the $250k guaranteed prize pool to $364,400; enough to pay the top 189 finishers. The Sunday Brawl lasted a lengthy 8-1/2 hours before “TopTizzlePizzle” was able to oust “the_corpofag” in heads-up play. TopTizzlePizzle earned $75,066 for the 1st place victory, while the_corpofag pocketed $49,558 for the 2nd place finish.

Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl Final Table Results

1st - TopTizzlePizzle ($75,066)
2nd - the_corpofag ($49,558)
3rd - johnDF ($36,804)
4th - DuquesneDropOut ($28,788)
5th - bmf823 ($21,500)
6th - rms smr ($14,940)
7th - goldenbollox ($9,110)
8th - Lopov ($6,195)
9th - prebzman ($4,373)

Next up was the Full Tilt Poker $750k Guaranteed, kicking off at 6 p.m. ET. A field of 4,057 took to the tables, boosting the prize pool by an extra $61,400. It was another long day for the participants, continuing into the early morning after a 9-1/2 hour battle. In the end, “syzygy-1-1-1-1” sent “govshark2” to the rails for the 1st place prize. “syzygy-1-1-1-1” earned $143,285 while “govshark12” too home a respectable $86,738 for 2nd.

www.FullTilt.com $750k Guaranteed Final Table Results

1st - syzygy-1-1-1-1 ($143,285)
2nd - govshark2 ($86,739)
3rd - Babooyah ($56,798)
4th - blizair ($44,627)
5th - thekellster89 ($33,511)
6th - Brundaddy – ($24,829)
7th - IndianRope ($18,662)
8th - Capax Infiniti ($14,605)
9th - EricaSchoenberg ($10,873)

Last but not least, the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan, worth a guaranteed prize pool of $150k, drew 1,189 players, increasing the overall payout to $237,800 to paying the top 108 finishers. Another extensive battle ensued as it took 7-1/2 hours for a victor to emerge. “Aaron_Hacker” defeated 3_9_offsuit” in heads up play to claim the top prize of $53,505.

Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan Final Table Results

1st - Aaron_Hacker ($53,505)
2nd - 3_9_offsuit ($33,887)
3rd - Intervention ($25,088)
4th - JOSEYY ($19,619)
5th - CrazyMarco ($14,863)
6th - Swimmer808 ($10,701)
7th - mordi20 ($7,134)
8th - nononoko ($5,351)
9th - broomcrnsuncle ($3,805)

FullTilt Poker is known for hosting more than $1 million in combined guaranteed tournaments every Sunday, but this coming Sunday - July 20, 2008 – FullTilt Poker will be hosting its monthly $1,000,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament

Direct buy-in to the lucrative event is $500+$35, but if you act quickly, there’s still plenty of chances to win a seat in the Full Tilt Poker $1 million GP through satellite and super satellite competitions. Tuesday July 15th, Full Tilt Poker is hosting a multitude of Satellites and Super Satellites ranging from buy-ins of $6+$.60 to $100+$9. There’s a max of 3,600 players at most of these tournaments, with the lower buy-ins guaranteeing 1 seat in the big event. The $100+$9 Satellite guarantees 5 seats.

For the remainder of the week, Full Tilt Poker will be hosting a single satellite competition each day, from Wednesday through Saturday. Weekday satellites are $100+$9, capped at 3,600 players and guaranteeing 5 seats in the Full Tilt Poker $1 million GP. Saturdays satellite, however, is a points entry tournament requiring 2,500 FTOP (frequent player points) to enter. Entries are capped at 5,000 and the top 36 positions will move on to the Sunday $1,000,000.

If you haven’t won a satellite entry by Saturday, don’t worry. Full Tilt Poker.com is running more satellites all day Sunday, with buy-ins ranging from $8+$.80 to $100+$9, up until the start of the $1 million GP.

All satellites and super satellites to the Full Tilt Poker Sunday $1,000,000 Guaranteed are currently accepting registration, and thus far have plenty of room for new additions.

As always, you can practice for free at FullTiltPoker.net!

Bodog.com has just announced the installment of its most lucrative tournament to date – a $25,000 Guaranteed scheduled for Sunday, August 10 at 4:00 p.m. ET. No matter how many players enter the tournament, the full $250,000 is guaranteed to be paid out to the top finishers.

It is apparent in this new tournament announcement that Bodog Poker is trying diligently to increase its tournament entries. Just last Sunday, the weekly Bodog Poker Sunday $100,000 GP drew a field of 783, not enough to boost the prize pool over its guaranteed amount. It must be somewhat disconcerting to the online poker room to watch the number one online poker room, PokerStars.com, attract enough participants every week to its famous Sunday Million to increase the prize pool by at least several hundred thousand on a regular basis.

Only time will tell, but this reporter has high hopes for the new Bodog Poker $250k GP, and I expect there will certainly be enough entries to cover the prize pool, and then some. The buy-in to this extravagant poker tournament is only $250+$20, but Bodog Poker is already boasting satellites and qualifiers for as little as $1. The online poker room is hoping to give all players, of all bankroll sizes, a chance to get in on the largest event in Bodog Poker history.

Bodog Poker will be running in excess of 200 qualifiers, starting July 14th up until the start of the $250k GP on August 10. As of now, this monumental tournament for Bodog Poker is cited as a one-time event, but should it be as successful as the online poker room is intending, perhaps we’ll begin to see more tournaments like this one on a regular basis.

If you want to start out with playing for free, you can play at Bodog Poker’s play for fun site, Bodog.net and practice for the real thing!

It was another great weekend for the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStar.com. The Sunday Million tournament, hosted every week by PokerStars with a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool, once again saw enough entries to escalate the GP to $1,276,400. Then again, can anyone remember the last time the PokerStars.com Sunday Million “didn’t” see a prize pool higher than the guaranteed? Me either…

An enormous field of 6,382 participants took to the tables at Poker Stars Sunday, all vying for the top prize of $158,657. Simply finishing in the top 1,017 would be worth at least a little cash in your pocket, though.

As the final table came together, nine hungry players competed for the top prize, well aware that they would all be pocketing at least $9,956 at this point in the tournament. In the end, however, it was “tEh_R3aLde4L” who emerged victorious, after defeating “Bolikk” in heads-up place for the 1st place victory.

While congratulations are certainly in order, the real pker story lies at the feet of 6th place finisher “jeffbeesdat”, who not only earned $33,825 in the PokerStars Sunday Million, but also managed a final table finish in the PokerStars $200k ‘Second Chance’ tournament, capturing 5th place an another 12,821, followed by an impressive run at the Full Tit Poker $750k Guaranteed that same day.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results

1st - tEh_R3aLde4L ($158,657)
2nd - Bolikk ($107,856)
3rd - jlost88 ($72,117)
4th - imeasy2read ($59,353)
5th - bartasPL ($46,589)
6th - jeffbeesdat ($33,825)
7th - XCappucinoX1 ($22,975)
8th - iso_o ($15,317)
9th - luke8 ($9,956)

PokerStars.com runs the Sunday Million every week and sattellites run all week long. If you want to practice first by playing free poker, check out PokerStars.net

FullTilt Poker, the world’s second largest online poker room, has joined forces with Sky Sports to present a 80-seater poker tournament in the UK, deemed the “Million £ Challenge”. This lucrative event, exclusive to online poker players in the UK, will take place in September, followed by a televised broadcast of the tournament in February of 2009, on the Sky Sports network.

FullTilt Poker.com will be hosting Freeroll Qualifiers to the Million £ Challenge once every day, starting July 7th through September – 56 FreePoker Qualifiers in all. New members of FullTiltPoker.com who make their first deposit will receive one free ticket into a Million £ Challenge qualifier tournament. Both new and existing members of Full Tilt Poker will earn a free qualifier entry ticket once they earn 100 points on Full tilt Poker. Earning 500 points awards another 2 tickets, 1,500 points awards 3 more tickets and 3,000 grants another 4 tickets.

Full Tilt Poker will also be hosting regular qualifier tournaments three times a week, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The winners of these Million £ Challenge qualifiers will win a seat in the Million £ Challenge. Each Saturday and Monday, the Million £ Challenge qualifiers will present a buy-in of only $5.50, upped to $11 for the Sunday tournament.

As the Million £ Challenge qualifier tournaments come to an end, the top 80 qualifiers will go on to play in the Million £ Challenge in London this September. Each will receive £1,000 spending cash to make their way to London for the event.

The winner of the Million £ Challenge will be awarded £50,000, followed by an opportunity to face three Full Tilt Pros in heads-up matches. Should the winner take down one Full Tilt Pro, they will be awarded £100,000. Take down two of the Full Tilt Pros for £200,000. Manage to wipe out all three Full Tilt Pros, and the prize is a cool £1,000,000.

James Hopkins, managing director of Emblaze Productions Ltd. (Sky Sports network), had this to say. “This will be the first show of its kind in the UK and must see TV for all poker enthusiasts. A spectacular event culminating in a £1,000,000 play-off, this will be TV drama at its very best.”

BodogLife (formerly Bodog.com) Poker’s most lucrative weekly tournament, the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed, went to the skilled endowments of “NATCH” this weekend, earning the top prize for whittling their way through a field of 711 participants.

“NATCH” ousted the other competitors one after another until finally going heads-up against “gfunkera” at the final table. In the end, “NATCH” was able to seal the victory for an inspiring payday of $23,600 – not a bad overture for an investment of $109. “gfunkera” was awarded the 2nd place prize of $13,600.

While the prize pool is not as overwhelming as that of PokerStars.com Sunday Million, or FullTiltPoker.com’s Poker’s Sunday $750k GP, the uphill struggle to emerge victorious at the weekly Bodog Poker $100k GP remains the same. It is only through immense talent and a little luck that “NATCH” was able to claim the ultimate victory this past weekend.

www.BodogPoker.com Sunday $100k Guaranteed Final Table Results:

1st - NATCH ($23,600)
2nd - gfunkera ($13,600)
3rd - SpauldingSmails ($9,100)
4th - CobaltBlue ($7,000)
5th - ChicagoBulls ($5,700)
6th - looooool ($4,500)
7th - party sucks ($3,300)
8th - northwest888 ($2,200)
9th - ychen0311 ($1,300)