A poker online tournament is a structured event in which players compete against each other to acquire all the chips in play. Unlike cash games, players cannot simply get up and walk away from a tournament. Play must continue until one player has all the chips.
Sit N Go Tournaments
The most frequently played elimination tournament poker online is the Sit N Go, which typically starts out with up to 18 players and begins immediately once all the seats are full. Typically, the top three finishers are paid. The reason these are so popular is that a good player can win consistently by playing Sit N Go’s.
Satellite Tournaments
Satellite tournaments of best online poker are the preliminary events for larger tournaments, often referred to as qualifiers. Usually, the top finisher will advance on to either another satellite event or will win the grand prize, which is typically a buy-in package for a very large live or online tournament. Sometimes a big event will have satellites starting at a few dollars. Winners of these events will graduate to the next level satellite that would otherwise cost more to enter. Players can work their way up to the highest-level satellite event to compete for the actual prize package that will often include the buy-in price to the large event and many times additional cash for travel expenses if the event is a live tournament.
Bounty Tournaments
Bounty tournaments are new to online poker real money and have become especially popular online. The twist on these tournaments is that every player has a “bounty” on their head. By knocking out a player, you receive the bounty. Technically, winning this tournament isn’t that important because you are consistently gaining cash by knocking out your opponents throughout the tournament. You don’t have to last until the final hand in order to come out ahead. In general, half of the buy-in to a bounty tournament will be the bounty on you, and the other half will go into the prize pool for tournament finishers.
Re-buy Tournaments
In re-buy tournaments, players are given a certain amount of time to re-buy chips once they have lost all their initial chips. These tournaments typically show more aggressive play early on due to the fact that players will not be eliminated for losing all of their chips; they can simply re-buy if their risks don’t pay off. If early risks do pay off for some players, then they are at a large advantage early on. This is different from typical other tournaments in which players start off playing very tight in order to wait for other players to go broke first. These tournaments typically have a higher prize pool in relation to entry cost than other standard tournaments.
Freeroll Tournaments
Freeroll tournaments cost nothing to the player to buy into, with no entry fee but do award real prizes. These are usually promotional tournaments, so many freerolls have stipulations attached. For instance, they may be for new players only or require a certain number of loyalty points to register. It is quite possible to build up a decent-sized bankroll by starting out at a freeroll, winning real cash, and then moving your way up the limits.
Happy playing!
Read more:
Spot a Poker Online Bluffer
3 Tips to Beat Satellite Poker Online Tournaments