assuming you had to play poker and not buy in directly to main event, i would play little sattellites. they have them all day everyday from a month before main event til the day of. you can get in for as little as 100$. gotta beat out 100 players but still not a bad deal. then as you get closer to main event they start running 1k entry 10 man sattys. so beat 9 guys n get in for 1k. always look for a cheaper path