How Online Poker Tournaments Work

One of the most exciting casino games enjoyed by players worldwide is poker. There are all different ways to play the game… from free games on your favourite online casino site – to tournaments against the top players.

If you are interested in playing poker tournaments… here the big bucks can be won. So, let’s take a look at how online poker tournaments work so you can get off to the best start in your online poker tournament journey.

Before participating in any poker tournaments, please make sure you are aware of how to play poker.

What is an Online Poker Tournament

Essentially, an online poker tournament involves lots of different poker players all playing for one big prize. In order to play, you will need to pay the ‘buy in’. You will then be given a set number of chips to play with. However, there are a variety of different tournament types to try out when playing online poker.

Sit N Gos

Arguably, one of the most popular formats you will come across is the Sit No Go tournament. These don’t necessarily have a set starting time and only begin when the table is full. Usually, this would require around 9 or 10 players although it can include as many as 30 players during a multi-table tournament.

Multi-Table Tournaments

These are tournaments that do have a set start time. These often attract large numbers of players because there are lots more seats available. As the tournament continues, players start to get knocked out based on how good (or bad) their hands are. This continues until there are just a few players left… And they will then be transferred to the main ‘final’ tournament table.  The player that ends up with the most chips at the end of the tournament is confirmed as the winner and walks away with the big prize pool!

Double or Nothings

This is a type of Si n Go. However, what sets it apart from the traditional Sit n Go is the payout structure. This type of tournament usually has 10 players at the table. The players that manage to fit in the top 5 will be given twice their buy-in. However, the other five players will walk away with nothing. All top 5 players get the same prize, which means you get paid out just as much for 5th place as 1st place which makes it slightly less competitive at the top half of the table.

A Satellite Poker Tournament

This is the best way to play at top online poker events and tournaments. These types of tournaments are usually held by famous poker rooms in the run-up to the game’s biggest events such as the WSOP… World Series of Poker. Players that manage to win this type of tournament will then be offered an entry into the main event.

Usually, the buy-in of one of these satellite tournaments sits at around 5 to 10% of the buy-in of the major tournament. So, if the WSOP buy-in was £250, then the satellite tournament buy-in would usually be about £12.50 to £25.

Freeroll Poker Tournaments

This type of tournament allows a player to join in without paying the buy-in. Entry for the tournament is free but you still have the chance to win a real money prize – sounds like a no brainer, right? These are the perfect ornaments for those new to the world of online poker because you can get a taste of how the game works without risking your own money.

Bounty Tournaments

This is a tournament where players are offered a sum of money for knocking out one particular opponent during the tournament. The ’bounty’ is the prize that you will get for knocking the player out – similar to how a bounty would work in real life. Each time a player is knocked out, a bounty will then be offered to other players.

Rebuy Tournaments

This type of tournament allows you to re-buy more chips when the initial distribution is finished (during the early blind levels). You can only re-buy chips in a certain time frame depending on the tournament. This game type has certainly grown in recent times.