Poker Tournaments

The worldwide popularity of poker has all but grown wings of late. With such tremendous global interest in the game, players are literally flocking to poker tournaments in their droves. From the moment that television networks began broadcasting poker tourneys like the World Series of Poker (WSOP), their viewership spiked into the millions.

The beauty of playing low-stakes poker is that small buy-ins can result in significant winnings. But playing in high-stakes contests invariably changes the poker landscape, because mega-pots are waiting to be hit. Players are required to have sizable bankrolls in order to compete in these high-stakes poker contests.

Poker Tournaments Articles

EPT

The European Poker Tour (EPT) commenced in 2004 as an equal to the World Poker Tour (WPT). Its focus is on televised poker gaming for a global...

>> article content

Multi-Table Tournaments

Multi-Table Tournaments (MTTs) run multiple tables simultaneously in order to accommodate scores of poker players. Play continues until only 9...

>> article content

WCOOP

The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) was established by PokerStars back in 2002. WCOOP has since become the name to beat in glittering...

>> article content

WSOP

The History of WSOP
Ted Binion is credited with founding the World Series of Poker (WSOP) back in the 1970s. The tourney was based on a 5-...

>> article content

A concept that newbie players tend to encounter is that of variance. The buy-ins for cash games can become considerable and bankroll management is paramount. In this vein, it’s safer to compete in smaller stakes poker tourneys. The reality is that small poker satellite victories can result in major poker fame and fortune – like Chris Moneymaker’s WSOP Main Event victory in 2003.

MTTs and Sit & Go’s are the premier attractions of leading poker rooms. These types of tournaments are renowned the world over and players are particularly drawn to them.

Multi-Table Tournaments or MTTs

These tournaments are the standard online poker tourneys. Players pay a buy-in fee and receive a set chip stack. These tournaments have set starting times and take place over multiple tables. Once your chips are gone, you’re out of the contest.

Sit & Go's or SNGs

These poker tourneys are widely popular in online poker. SNG tournaments are similar in most respects to MTTs, however they are typically comprised of 1 or 2 tables and the contests begin when every seat is filled.

Shootouts

These tourneys are MTTs and Sit & Go’s combined. The winner of each table advances to the next round. This continues until there’s a final winner. Winning the tournament is achieved after each Sit & Go table is beaten.

Turbo

In online poker tourneys, it’s the Turbo tournaments that turn on the heat. These fast-paced contests are standard MTTs or Sit & Go’s, with rapidly increasing blinds.

Bounty

These are MTTs where big prizes are awarded for eliminating poker players – usually pros.

Satellite

These tournaments provide winners with a buy-in into a bigger tourney – usually a live poker event. Poker legend Chris Moneymaker won a seat into the 2003 WSOP via a satellite event.

Weekly Guaranteed

Most online poker sites feature weekly poker tourneys with mega paydays. These include PokerStars Sunday Million. The more you pay, the more you stand to win.