Participate in Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments rate right up there in terms of popularity. There is an array of poker tournaments available online. You must know about most of them in order to choose the right one if and when you decide to play a poker tournament.

Choose the right Poker Tournament

Before you select a poker tournament, you must ensure that it is suitable for you. Check out the dates of the tournament and see if you are free on the day. Find out about the entry fee as well. Again, if you are looking for a free tournament, you will be forced to play low stake tournaments that offer roughly 10% of the pot. One the other hand, if you are going for high stake tournaments, you can expect less than 10% of the pot. Make sure you pick a tournament that has games you enjoy and a betting structure that is suitable for you.

Games on offer

While Texas Hold’em poker seems to be the most popular option when it comes to poker tournaments, you may also be able to find many more games. The betting structure for these games includes limit, no limit and pot limit. You may also come across 7-card stud games or mixed games similar to H.O.R.S.E that are great fun to play.

Poker Tournaments variety

The first thing you need to decide on is whether you want to participate in a live tournament. When you go for a poker tournament, there is a wide variety of structures for you to choose from. You can go for tournaments with no buy-in fees or those offering free rolls. Again, you can also find satellite tournaments that give players an opportunity to get a free seat in larger poker events or those with guaranteed prizes. Apart from this, you can find three fundamental types of poker tournaments based on structure.

  1. Sit ‘n’ Go (SNG) tournaments are the most popular kinds. These games offer a limited number of seats. Once these seats are taken, the tournament begins and no other player is allowed to join in.
  2. Multi table limit tournaments feature more than one playing tables at the same time. The prize money of these games depends on the total number of people signing up for the game. This can be determined once the website has the final number of registered entrants.
  3. Multi table tournaments with no limits have the largest number of entrants. This makes the game really difficult to win.

The above mentioned are the three fundamental structures you will find poker tournaments in.

Betting Format followed in Poker Tournaments

There are a variety of formats used for betting in poker tournaments. The technique used to play poker varies depending on the kind of betting format that is in use at the table.
Structure Bets: These bets are also called fixed limit bets. In these tournaments the raises and bets are fixed around a fixed amount. As the tournament progresses, this amount can be expected to increase.
Semi-structured Bets: These kinds of bets give a better chance of raises. In this kind of betting, the raises are set at a rate that is higher than the size of the pot. This limit is supposed to be between the maximum and minimum amount in the pot.
Unstructured Bets: These kinds of bets are also referred to as no limit bets. This gives players the freedom to be any amount.