Poker Tournaments

Offline Poker Tournaments

Entry fees: Most offline tournaments require that anyone wishing to play, pay a fee called a “buy-in”, which gives them a certain amount of play money in the form of chips. Although real money and chips cannot be interchanged, some tournaments allow players to buy additional amounts of chips, called a “re-buy”. Usually, this is only allowed if players are low on chips, and when a player has no chips left, he/she is eliminated from the tournament. Generally, the winner is the last player left in the game.

Prizes: fixed prizes give fixed cash amounts according to the final placing of a player. A proportional prize is a percentage-based payout determined according to the number of participants, which increases as the amount of participants does.

Betting format: In a structured betting system, betting and raising is limited to a fixed amount. In semi-structured betting systems, such as “pot-limit”, raising is restricted to a certain range. In unstructured or “no-limit” betting systems, bets and raises are in no way restricted, and players can also “all-in” (bet al their chips).

Online Poker Tournaments

Online tournaments are generally held in satellite form, whereby players enter major offline evens by winning small single-table games on the Internet. However, many online casinos and poker rooms hold tournaments of their own completely online. These are played exactly the same as offline tournaments, only there are additional rules that must be followed to ensure legitimate game play, such as time limits on decision-making, and preferred payment options. The main advantage of online play is smaller buy-ins than in offline tournaments. For further information, see online poker tournaments.