The Pokerstars Moneymaker Millionaire tournament is going to take a lot of patience to qualify for, but it will be worth it if you make the live final. This would be a next to impossible tournament to win entry into if you were playing against all good players, but you’re not. Most of the players in the Moneymaker Millionaire round 1 tournaments are terrible. There will still be terrible players left in round 2 and, amazingly, many of the players still alive in round 3 are less than stellar. Here is our guide on how to make it to Atlantis:

Round 1
Round one tournaments typically have the worst players in them and the worst entrant-to-winner ratio of the three rounds, but that’s okay because we get unlimited chances to qualify in this one. The fields in these rounds range from 1,500 to 7,000+ and 50 players advance to round 2.

Your strategy will obviously be to make it to the final 50. To figure out how to do that we need to find out how many total chips are in play and divide that number by the amount of seats to the next tournament which are up for grabs. For example, if there are 5,000 entrants, the average stack will be exactly 100-times the amount we started with when play ends. That’s a pretty obvious calculation, but what if a less mathematically convenient amount of players register?

If there are 3,211 players, for example, you need to multiply 3,211 by 1,500 (which is the amount of chips each players starts with in round 1) to arrive at the total chips in play. Then divide that number by 50 to get what the average stack will be when the tournament is over. In this case, we would have 4,816,500 chips in play. Divide that by 50 and you’ll discover the average stack at the end will be 96,330.

Use your average stack calculation as a guide when you play the round 1. You won’t need to have that many chips at the end, but you don’t want to have too much of a smaller stack than that as you get down to the bubble, because you can easily get blinded off. If you build your way up to a stack that is twice that big or more, you can pretty much fold your way to a seat. Don’t ever play in this tournament without knowing what the final stack at the end will be. That’s just lazy. The chip count gives you a target range to shoot for. It’s the difference between aiming for a stationary target and aiming for a moving one.

You are going to have to gamble in this tournament, but maybe not as much as you think. Many of the players I’ve encountered in the round 1 tourneys are passive and will let you see a lot of flops in your BB and if you limp. There will always be one or two over-aggressive players at your table, especially at the beginning. Recognize who they are early and be ready to exploit them. They won’t last, so try to get your money in against them as soon as you think you have an edge. Any edge is fine, early. Just make sure you account for the possibility someone behind you might have you beat. If you are in a battle of the blinds with him though and you have ace-ten offsuit or something similar that beats his hand range, by all means get your money all-in.

If you have a real money account with Pokerstars, I’ll assume you have some FPPs and can afford to lose a few of these. If that’s the case, I recommend playing pretty agressive early and trying to build a big stack. If you get knocked out of this tourney, you want it to be in the first hour. No one wants to invest four hours and come up with nothing. Once you have a decent stack-to-blinds ratio, you should adjust to the table. If they’re playing tight, you can play aggressively. If they’re playing loose, you should play tight and wait to nail them. Try to play speculative hands against other big stacks, especially if you note that they’re aggressive. You want to try to double up through these stacks.

If you are only a play money player, you only have one free entry into this tournament. I would still recommend the aggressive style of play, but if you’re not comfortable being reckless with your only entry, you can play a normal tight-aggressive style at the beginning. Don’t make any big laydowns, though. There’s no reason to fold ace-queen to a single raise early in the tournament. Go ahead and re-raise. Get all of your chips in. I would normally encourage play money players to play much tighter than is natural for them, but this is certainly not the tournament to do it in. You want to maximize your variance here, since the chances of you advancing will often be one or two percent.

As you approach the bubble, keep an eye on the antes and the size of the pot before the cards are dealt. That’s how much it’s going to cost you in blinds per nine hands. Play is going to slow down at this point. Most players will take fewer chances and will let their time banks expire. I have no problem with this strategy. Let your time bank expire if you aren’t playing hand-for-hand yet.

Round 2
This round is the easiest of the three. Your job is simple, survive approximately 75 percent of the field. That means the average chip stack will be 6,000 when you finish.

You can play a much more tight-aggressive game in this tournament than you would in the round one tournament. You don’t have to gamble as much. Some of the players you encounter will be good, but at least half of them will be mediocre to bad players who had a good run in the round 1 tournament. Don’t assume everyone will be aware of the strategy implications of a playing a satellite that pays off one-quarter of the field. You’ll see some donkey moves as you near the bubble, so try to survive until it.

Keep your cool if you get short-stacked. Remember, in a tournament this shallow, you are always one or two double-ups away from an average stack.

Round 3
This is where we really find out who can play, and who can be a luckbox when necessary. 120 places pay out a decent amount of money, but your real goal is to make it to the final table. Once you make it there, you are guaranteed to go to Atlantis. Of course the Moneymaker Millionaire package for places 1-6 (or 1-5, depending on the month) is a much better prize than the Caribbean Adventure package, but we’ll worry about that once we make it to the final few tables.

This one will play like a regular, somewhat deep-stacked, tournament, since you start with 2,500 chips instead of 1,500. Avoid coin flips early(not hands where you think you are a small favorite. You definitely have to play those hands, ace-ten vs. queen-jack for example) and try to take cheap flops. We want to play big pots with big hands early. Winning the blinds is not a priority.

If you manage to survive until the final 130 players or so, get ready to shift into fast gear. Some players will take the incorrect approach of playing very tight until there are 120 players left and they’ve assured themselves a $100 win. Even if you are a play money player, a $100 win isn’t the kind of score you are looking for. Play very aggressively at this point. Steal and re-steal against players who are in survival mode. The extra chips you accumulate will help you on your road to the final table and that is worth a lot more than $100.

When you get to the final two tables, it’s tempting to just try to survive until you finish in 9th place at least and are guaranteed an entry into the Caribbean Adventure. Don’t forget, though, that a Caribbean Adventure package is worth $12,000 and a Moneymaker Millionaire package is worth over $70,000, so don’t play weak near the end and certainly don’t let your guard down once you reach the final table.

Many top players argue that this series of tournaments is a waste of time because of the large fields and small percentage of players who move on. I disagree, but please, let them continue to think that. That attitude keeps good players out of your tournaments.

If you look at our description and think the Moneymaker Millionaire qualifiers are a waste of time, consider this: It is completely free to enter and once you qualify for the live final, you have a 1 in 27 chance of becoming a millionaire. Plus, you win a free trip for two to the Caribbean and are guaranteed to win $5,000. If you are a low-limit player or a newcomer with good skills but a limited bankroll, this tournament is perfect way for you to take a shot at the big time.

To sign up to play in the Moneymaker Millionaire tournament at Pokerstars completely free.