|
Poker Tournaments Explained
Online and brick and mortar poker tournaments are peaking today. Online tournaments actually began just a short time ago, in 2002. No-limit Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker tournament game. Currently, there are over 250,000 players taking part in online poker tournaments for real money. Poker tournaments are structured competitions where players compete against each other to accumulate all the chips in play. In cash games, players can quit whenever they want. In tournaments, players can not quit and cash out their chips. Play continues until there is a winner.
There are two primary types of tournaments: Single table, also called “sit and go,” and multi table. In single table, usually it is a winner-take-all prize structure. There are various different types of multi-table poker tournaments: "Elimination" tournaments are the most common type. In this structure all players begin with the same amount of chips, and play continues until one player has accumulated all the chips. At multi-table tournaments, as players are eliminated, the active players are re-seated at fewer and fewer tables. Due to the size of the entrants, the payout structure usually rewards multiple players. Generally, about 10% of all players in the tournament are paid out.
In "Rebuy Tournaments" players who lose all their chips are allowed to "rebuy" more chips and continue to play if done within a specified rebuy period. Rebuy tournaments generally feature more aggressive play earlier on as players do not face the prospect of elimination if they lose all their chips. Rebuys often lead to larger total prize pools being played for than would be standard for the initial entry cost.
In "shootout tournaments" tables are not combined as players are eliminated. Rather, each table plays down to a single winner. Then table winners proceed to a finals portion of the event. So, if a tournament starts with sixteen tables, the sixteen table winners then compete “elimination style” until there is a winner. Shootout tournaments normally last several hours less than elimination events. Some poker rooms have developed a specialty for poker tournaments, and they have massive traffic and variable games and limits.
We have listed the most popular specialty tournaments below.
Freeroll (online)
A Freeroll is an online poker tournament where there is no real money buy-in or entry fee. Entry into this type of poker tournament is FREE. Cash prizes are awarded as well as play money. These tournaments will be indicated in the tournament lobby as Free Roll. These are often given as new player bonuses by online poker rooms. New players going through affiliate buttons often receive additional free rolls in addition to the new player bonuses.
Regular Buy-In (online, brick and mortar)
A Regular Buy-In is a poker tournament where players buy in with real money. Cash Prizes are awarded based on the number of registered entrants. If the online poker tournament is designated as a guarantee, then the minimum cash awards will equal the amount of the guarantee. If the prize pool exceeds the guaranteed amount as a result of the number of participants then the greater amount will be paid out.
Example: $10,000 guaranteed tournament with a $100 buy-in. If 200 players participate, the prize pool would be $20,000, so the guarantee does not matter. However, if only 50 players enter the tournament, the prize pool would typically only be $5,000. In this case, we would add $5,000 more to the prize pool for a total of $10,000 to match the guarantee.
Qualifier (online, brick and mortar)
Tournaments in which the first place winner (or first and second place winners in some qualifiers) wins a percentage (depending on the tournament) of the buy-in and entry fee and a pre-registered seat in the designated poker tournament. Players will be pre-registered the day of the major event. The seat is non-transferable and non-refundable. These online poker tournaments will be indicated in an online tournament lobby as Qualifier (or Qual).
Examples: Hold'em NL 25K Qualifier, or Hold'em NL 25K Qual (No Limit Hold'em Seat Qualifier for $25,000 Event).
Satellites (online, brick and mortar)
A satellite tournament is a preliminary "mini" tournament to a bigger tournament. For example, prior to the World Series of Poker main event costing $10,000 to enter, 100 players each put up $100, with the winner advancing to the World Series of Poker main event.
Turbo (online)
A Turbo Tournament is an online poker tournament where the bet levels increase more rapidly than regular poker tournaments. Generally, the levels in Turbo Tournaments are set to increase every 5 minutes.
Bounty (online)
A Bounty poker tournament is an online multi-table tournament where players buy in with real money. Cash Prizes are awarded based on the number of registered entrants or on a guaranteed prize pool. The player who busts out a resident professional player (or sometimes two) wins extra cash.
Online Poker Tournament Structure
Most online poker tournaments will start with an initial chip stack of 1500 chips. For special poker tournaments, the starting chip stack may be increased or decreased. Bet limits, bet limit timing increases and payouts vary according to the poker tournament type. As a norm, online poker tournament bet levels increase in increments of 10 minutes on single table tournaments and 15 minutes on multi-table tournaments, depending upon the tournament game type. In a poker tournament denoted as "Turbo", the bet level increase more rapidly; normally in 5 minute increments.
|
