Pokerstars Event Qualifyers

[clynd99]

Been having a scoot round the pokerstars site over the weekend and have been playing in some of the qualifyers for the Pokerstars Carribean Adventure and Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Sydney.
I have played before in some of the EPT qualifyers and have got through into the final $109 game with a field of around 250+ where I"ve had absolutely no chance because I"m not very good, but there are satellites for these events which are much different.
They are in Sit & Go "steps". Step 1 is $7.50 and its a single table of 9 entrants. 1st and 2nd get up to step 2 which can be bought into for $27, 3rd gets to re-enter step 1 without charge and 4th gets $1.50.
Step 2 has 1st and 2nd going through to step 3, with 3rd and 4th returning free of charge back into step 2 again and 5th going back to step 1.
There are 6 steps and in the final step, top 3 of the 9 win a $12000 package to the event, but all the way along if they are off the top spots they can be re-entered into one of the steps below.
Anyone else played these? I must say I think they are a brilliant structure. As I"ve said I"m not very good so all weekend I"ve been taking one step forward, one back, two forward, one back, one forward, two back etc, but its great fun, and I think in the long run its a better chance for people to get into these events. But maybe I"m wrong.
I hope that pokerstars use this format in future for all event qualifications.
What do people think?

[RioRodent]

First off, you have missed the fact that Step 6 is a 2-table/18 seat tournament, not 9 seats!

So onto my comments... Personally I"m not a big fan of these "steps" tournaments... I don"t like the idea that if I get part way through and then find that I am just out of my depth, there is no way out other than losing everything I have worked hard for over perhaps several weeks.

What you are trying to do here is roll-up $xx into $12000 in 2 months, whilst completely disregarding any form bankroll management!!

Ask youself this question... If you tried to do this by playing regular STTs, for example every time you won at one level you step straight up to the next, if you come 2nd or 3rd you continue at the same level and if you don"t cash you go back down a level - at what point would you lose your nerve and decide to bank your profit instead of continuing?

I suspect the answer is long before you get to be in a position to win $12000.

In any Step 6 tournament there are three $12000 winners, that"s $36000. That"s the equivalent of 5143 players starting a Step 1 tournament for $7.50. If every one was the same standard (which they"re not) that equates to a 1713/1 shot... pretty long odds! Didn"t you say you had no chance beating 250"ish because "I"m not very good"?

If you just want a great poker experience, I think (no, I know) there are much more realsitic, and cheaper, ways to achieve it. If you are any good at all at STTs, why not set a target of winning $5000 by next June, this is easily achievable playing $10 - $20 STTs... Book a flight to Vegas and a week at the Gold Coast, and play in a $1500 WSOP event. You will have just as much chance of playing with a few big name pro"s, if you play all day and you"ll feel just as sick if you bust out after just an hour or two! :"(

Trust me, I have experienced both!

Well, that"s my two-penneth... if you choose to pursue the "steps" route I wish luck - send us a postcard from Atlantis!!  

[RioRodent]

For another view, there are a couple of threads on blonde currently...

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=28123.0

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=28255.0