A Brief Guide to Online Poker Tournaments

Poker is one of the most popular casino games in the world, so it’s no surprise that there are many online tournaments which feature it. The biggest poker tournaments are broadcast from Las Vegas and other gaming hubs live on TV stations like ESPN; however, you don’t have to be a professional player to get in on the action.

If you play poker online long enough, you start to gain confidence in your abilities. You may not consider yourself an expert-level player, but you know your way around the poker table. Poker tournaments are an excellent way to take your poker game to the next level. Websites like Global Poker offer weekly poker tournaments that allow you to test your skills against competitors around the globe.

Once you get really good, you may even try one of their major tournaments. Whatever your choice, you’re sure to have a good time. Read on to learn more about online poker tournaments.

How Do Online Poker Tournaments Work?

Poker competitions often play out like a gripping suspense novel; you’re never sure how they’ll end. If you’ve never participated in a poker tournament, it’s important to keep in mind that live poker competitions operate differently to regular cash games. Instead of playing at one table with minimum and maximum buy-ins, during a tournament, you can play at multiple tables and the buy-is fixed.

In a regular poker game, players can cash out whenever they want, and the blinds remain the same. In a tournament, the blinds increase at regular intervals. Another difference is that all players receive the same number of chips at the beginning of a poker tournament and can’t buy more chips or buy back into the tournament when they run out. 

As always, there are some exceptions to the rules. Some tournament sponsors allow a rebuy, where players can purchase more chips. These rules differ depending on the tournament and the casino. 

Participants in tournaments are paid based on their ranking when the contest ends. If you perform well and finish in first place, you could walk away with 50% of the prize pool. The further down in the rankings you finish, the less money you’ll receive. There’s usually no prize for players who finish outside of the top 10. 

Popular Types Of Online Poker Competitions

There are two main types of online poker competitions: sit and gos (SNGs) and multi-table tournaments (MTTs). You play the same kind of poker no matter what tournament you choose; however, the logistics, including structure, starting times, and potential rewards, vary depending on the tournament you pick. While there’s some debate about whether poker qualifies as one of the biggest eSports, you may believe it should after participating in a tournament.

Sit and Gos

As the name suggests, SNG tournaments are competitions where the players move around as they play. SNG tournaments don’t have a scheduled start time and begin whenever enough players have registered for the tournament. 

If it’s a 20-player tournament, the SNG begins once 20 players have signed up to participate, which could take anywhere from a couple of minutes to several days. SNGs usually only have enough participants for one table, but sometimes there are more. 

Multi-Table Tournaments

What differentiates MTTs and SNGs is the scheduled start time. MTTs have scheduled start times with players competing at multiple tables. While multiple tables aren’t a requirement for a tournament to be considered an MTT, having multiple tables is more common than not. 

If the organizers of an MTT have scheduled it to start at 1pm, it’ll start at that time no matter how many players have registered to play. 

Turbo Poker Tournaments

You can participate in a quick turbo tournament if you’re in a rush. These tournaments have blind levels, and the jumps between levels are greater than in classic poker tournaments. There are no defined rules about how quickly these tournaments must take place, but you’ll find the action is much faster than in traditional competitions. 

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