Types Of Online Poker Tournaments

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Texas Holdem, Omaha, and many others, as long as its a poker game then you are in a poker room. For this reason the types of poker rooms could be:

  • In a Live Casino
  • On your Computer Playing Online
  • In your Basement Games Room
  • Any Building with Tables and Chairs designed for a Poker Event
  • Multi-table tournaments are the basic in poker, it is your standard game when it comes to online poker. It is just ordinary poker but online, like all live games you will pay a buy-in to join and then will be assigned an amount of chips.
  • Tournaments also known as STT’s are very similar to the popular Sit & Go tournaments found at online poker sites. This type of tournament structure is limited to a certain number of players, usually 5, 6, 9 or 10, although ten seems to be the standard number at most poker rooms and do not have scheduled time.

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Online Poker Tournaments: The Bluffers' Guide. Online poker used to be so simple for tournament players: register for a straight MTT or a quick Sit ‘n’ Go in the evening, throw a few cash tables into the mix, and away you go. Today, however, you can spend an evening playing tournaments online and not even scratch the surface of the range.

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Types Of Online Poker Tournaments

Types of Poker Tournaments and and Rooms Online:

What is a Poker Room?

The Pokerhands.poker definition of a poker room is one that is specially set aside anywhere at any time where the focus is clearly defined for the playing of Poker Games.

What is a Poker Room Tournament

A poker room tournament is simply a type of tournament where players compete among themselves by playing poker. The tournament can be played by two persons on a single table referred to as a “heads-up” tournament, and can also equally be played by tens of thousands of people on hundreds of tables set up in a poker room.

To qualify for the tournament, a poker player has to pay a fixed buy-in which gives him a certain amount of poker chips at the start of the poker tournament. To be declared the winner, a player must win every poker chip in the game while the other players are given position based on their elimination time.

Usually, the starting amount of tournament chips of an entrant is an integer multiple of the buy-in. There’s an option of re-buy or buy-back in some tournament which allows players to purchase more chips.

While re-buys are conditional in some cases, it is also open to all as well in some tournament. On the conditional basis, it is offered to players low on or when out of chips, and when open all it is called add-ons. On exhaustion of chips, a player is eliminated from the tournament.

In ranking, players are ranked chronologically—the last player gets the first place, followed by the second to the last who makes the second place, and so on.

The ranking by elimination method exempts the likelihood of a tie for first place, due to the fact that it is only a single player that must possess all the chips in order to finish the tournament.

In some instances, the tournament ends with mutual consensus among the remaining players(in most cases two players) who would like to share the prize instead of one losing if the game actually continues.

There are various tournaments to choose from There are multiple tournament formats when it comes to poker games online and some have even evolved to speed formats where by you can fold instantly and be whisked away to a new table with different players instantly.

Types of Poker Room Tournaments? Which ones should you play?

Well that is entirely up to you. The best advice is to try them all at lower limits to see which ones you are good at at which ones you may prefer over the others.

Lower stakes to begin with allow you to feel out the various game formats of poker online tournament play without the risk of losing big buy ins until your comfortable with the format.

Types of Poker Tournaments Available in Online Poker Rooms:

Bounties Poker Tournament Elimination

In this type of poker tournament room, a player is rewarded with a bounty on knocking out a specific or pre-determined number of players from the competition.

Bounties are quite fun and interesting since they allow players to win cash even without finishing in the money, you can get paid only for the elimination of player(s) with a bounty on their heads in addition to placing int the tournament.

Freeroll Tournament Poker Type

This tournament seems to be the most sought after and attractive event at online poker sites, owing to its uniqueness and flexibility.

It demands no entry fee or making an initial investing; thus making it an attractive one especially to first timers who can build up their bankrolls even without an initial deposit. Play in as many free rolls as you can and earn real money to build up your bankroll.

Most if not all poker rooms offer freeroll poker games. All You do is join up and then once inside the online poker room just choose between free money and real money play its that simple.

You will find the ability to join free or real money games right on the home page of the poker room site.

Freeze Out Poker Tournament Type

This tournament poker room type run by top poker sites is unique in its own way, in that, players make a single buy in and are thus eliminated after losing all their chips.

The elimination goes on till the elimination of all the players is complete, and tables get smaller and are combined with other tables.

No re buys are allowed, that’s why when you are knocked out you are frozen out which is just a term for not being able to get back in by re buying,

This caters to players who hate the donks that continually go all in and play bingo style of poker trying to double up quick knowing they can re buy, which you cannot do in a freeze out. So play your hands carefully and only go all in with the best of it.

Shoot-out Tournament Poker Types

This is fun for those who hate getting bounced from table to table in online poker games just as they are getting reads on their opponents playing styles and hand ranges.

Unlike regular types of poker tournaments where tables are constantly adjusted as people drop out, in a shoot out the table plays down to a winner at each individual table. That person who remains last as the winner of that table then moves on to play the winners of the other tables.

You can therefore get reads on players and also play like a sit n go while at the same time being in a mtt style tournament. Like 2 styles in one. If you haven’t tried a shoot out tournament you definitely should especially if your a good sit n go player. This might be the next best kind of game for you to win at.

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Double or Nothing A Favorite Type of Poker Tournament

This a a fairly new within the last several years type of tournament that is a sit n go where half the people double up in their prize money. 10 players enter and 5 cash for example. Same with a 6 person table where only 3 of the six will cash.

Play tends to be a lot tighter in this games so as to cash, or get in the money since your odds are a lot higher than those of a regular sit n go where only 3 of 10 or 2 of 6 people cash.

Of course the pay out is less but the odds of a double up are easier and higher than trying to make it down to the last 2 or 3 players in a regular sit n go.

If your a tight abc poker player then these games may be a right choice for you.

Note: Some poker rooms may offer a slight variance of the game where the double up is in the 50/50 chance of cashing.

However, the poker room designates more allocation of the prize fund to the players remaining based on chip count. So instead of getting a double up in prize money, you may get more or less depending on your chip count when the game ends.

Deep Stack Style of Poker Tournaments for Long Poker Room Sessions

Grab some coffee and settle in for a long ride

A deep stack tournament is one where your chip count is significantly higher than the starting blind structure. Most regular tournaments have stacks set at 1500 2000 or 3000.

Deep Stack Poker Tournament Types are typically 5 000 or 10 000 starting chip stacks in size. Although some will argue that 3 000 or 4 000 starting chips would be classified as deep stack tournaments.

Of course if the blinds start out really low and increase in small increments along with a time structure of 15 – 20 minutes per blind then the case can be made for these chip amounts qualifying as deep stacks.

We tend to think however that the 5000 chip plus up to 10 000 starting stack is the true definition of a deep stack tournament.

These are more of a professional style tournament structure with the deep stack poker tournaments. Allowing for better poker play and starting hand selection by having more time to be patient.

Whereas one has to take more risks with lower percentage hands and smaller pocket pair all ins to double up and stay alive in the lower stack faster blind structures, one can play better premium starting hands in a deep stack type of poker structure.

Types of Poker Room Tournaments Live:

  • WSOPWorld Series of Poker Live Events

  • WPTWorld Poker Tour Live Events

Types Of Poker Room Games that are Most Popular:

  • Omaha Hi Low
  • 8 Game
  • Horse
  • 5 Card Draw
  • 7 Card Stud
  • Badugi

Types Of Poker Hands in Order Hi to Low:

  • Royal Flush
  • Straight Flush
  • 4 of a kind
  • Full House
  • Flush
  • Straight
  • 3 of a Kind
  • 2 Pair
  • Pair
  • High Card
Conclusion to Types of Poker Tournament Games and Rooms

The Biggest Types of Poker Tournaments in any Poker Room Online tend to be Texas Holdem games. This is then followed by Omaha which is also steadily increasing in popularity and a very fun game you should try and practice.

Put your odds and math skills to better use calculating odds in Omaha on the fly and beat your opponents who are not as well versed in the increased odds of hitting hands in this exciting game.

Online poker used to be so simple for tournament players: register for a straight MTT or a quick Sit ‘n’ Go in the evening, throw a few cash tables into the mix, and away you go.

Today, however, you can spend an evening playing tournaments online and not even scratch the surface of the range and complexity of what’s on offer.

Even the humble Sit ‘n’ Go isn’t just a straightforward 10-man affair anymore: Turbos, Hyper-Turbos, 4-max, 6-max, Jackpot, the new ‘Twister’ format – if a new variation on the online tourney can be conjured up, chances are it will be.

So, to navigate the minefield of online tournaments you’re likely to encounter, here’s a rough guide. Don’t be put off by the sheer range of what’s on offer, and of course, brush up on your poker skills before committing any real money to the cause.

Note: The tournaments listed below are generally played No Limit Texas Hold’em, although Omaha, Stud and HORSE MTTs can be found online at the bigger poker rooms.

Single Table Tournaments (STTs)

Players: 6-10

Lowdown: STTs are Sit ‘n’ Gos restricted to one table. As soon as a table fills up, the game starts. Structures vary, but generally are played as Turbos (i.e. 10-minute blinds). Hyper-turbos are also popular for the multi-table grinders, with 3-5 minute blinds the norm.
Some sites offer 6-or-10 handed ‘Jackpot’ SNGs which pay out a huge jackpot for winning – or coming 2nd in - a certain number of tourneys consecutively. The jackpots are progressive, meaning a percentage of your buy-in gets pooled and paid out in the event of a winner.

Strategy: Entire books have been written about optimum online STT play (check out Collin Moshman’s excellent book, simply titled, Sit N Go Strategy) but a solid, tight-aggressive style – particularly in the turbo formats – is advisable.
Start off tight for the first few levels and play premium hands, use the continuation bet freely against weak players if you’re first to act, and once the blinds start to get high, start to re-raise all-in with 15-20bb stacks.

The aim is to get into the money places (top 3) with a healthy stack so you can put your opponents to tough decisions. Even at the low buy-ins SNG players are reluctant to call off their stacks with marginal hands and you can really profit with an aggressive strategy in the later stages. Getting into the money is fine in a Sit ‘n’ Go but 3rd place will only earn 20% of the prizepool (so doubling your money in a 10-man STT) and with 50% of the pool going to 1st place, that’s where you should always be aiming for.

Twister Sit ‘n’ Gos

Players: 3

Lowdown: If you’re a cash game player you’ll know all about the new fast-fold games which are very popular right now and take a lot of the thinking out of the game, especially the extreme formats that feature just 10bb stacks and pre-flop action only.
Well, at the major online network, iPoker, a similar ‘fast’ element is now being applied to Sit ‘n’ Gos.

Twister SNGs are 3-handed single-table tournaments where the winner takes all. A unique feature of Twister Sit ‘n’ Gos is that an extra jackpot is awarded at random to each tournament prior to the start, meaning that you could be playing for a much higher prizepool than just your buy-ins. Get lucky and you could be playing for a jackpot of 1,000x your buy-in.

Strategy: Twister SNGs are certainly fast and furious, but there’s a little more thinking involved. Think of Twisters as 10-handed SNGs and imagine you’re already in the latter stages when the first seven players have been already knocked out.

Widen your hand range from the off, as a picture card or small pocket pair will often be good against your opponents. Therefore, use position well and raise virtually everything on the Button. As it’s winner-takes-all there’s no point sitting tight, hoping for a heads-up confrontation; you need to be taking the initiative from the outset.

Heads-Up SNGs (HUSNGs)

Players: 2

Lowdown: As the name suggests, Heads-up tournaments are played one-on-one and will begin as soon as both seats are filled. Buy-ins vary wildly, but there are plenty of big-stakes games at most sites online.

The games are winner-takes-all, of course, and some regular online grinders play HUSNGs exclusively as they’re over quite quickly and easy to multi-table – perfect for getting the volume in, improving the ROI (Return on Investment) and triggering that deposit bonus much quicker.

Strategy: HUSNGs can start off slowly or be all-in-fests right from the off, depending on the players, but generally you should look to play pairs and picture cards strongly. Also, the button is vital in this game to give you an advantage, so raise virtually ANY hand when in the button to put pressure on your opponent.

Double or Nothing Sit ‘n’ Gos

Players: 10

Lowdown: Double or Nothing SNGs may not yield big profits, but played sensibly they can lead to lots of regular, small wins.

Essentially, the game stops when play becomes 5-handed and everyone gets double their buy-in. There’s no ‘1st place’, no ‘2nd place’, etc, everyone just shares the spoils.

Strategy: DONs favour tight players who are happy to sit tight and accumulate chips in good spots early on, then start to get more aggressive as play goes on. They’re like online satellites in some respects (see below) in that you don’t need to get to heads-up, or even 3-handed; just squeak in to the last five players and you cash – simple.

Multi-table Sit ‘n’ Gos

Players: 18-180

Lowdown: Multi-table Sit ‘n’ Gos exist at the larger poker sites you’ll find online in 2020. However, they aren’t scheduled events; as soon as the tables fill up, the games will start. And if you think it takes a while for 180 players to be found, think again; these large SNGs are extremely popular. Payout structures will vary from site to site, but 10 percent of the field is normal, or more.

Strategy: Multi-table SNGs usually carry a similar turbo blind structure to standard STTs, and so the same strategy applies: sit tight early on, act aggressively in late position, and play your premium hands strongly, especially post-flop.

Players will fall by the wayside quickly in a 180-man Sit ‘n’ Go, maybe much faster than you’d expect, so you will find yourself down to half the field in a short amount of time. This is the time to start applying aggressions with some strong re-raises all-in if you sense weakness.

The great thing about 180-man SNGs is that they almost play like STTs most of the time, but you have the added benefit of lots more money in the pool! Some online regulars ONLY play 180-man SNGs because of the added value.

MTT Freezeouts

Players: 12 +

Lowdown: Scheduled ‘Multi-Table Tournaments’ are simply tournaments that have more than one table at start. They kick off at a set time in the lobby regardless of how many players are sitting down. Freezeouts will feature a set amount of chips to each player. Once you run out of chips, you’re out.

Tables will be played 9 or 10-handed if playing a full-ring MTT, but specialist tournaments like 4-max or 6-max will have only 4 or 6 players respectively per table.

Many online MTTs will carry guaranteed prizepools, so it sometimes pays to hunt around for MTTs that are likely to feature ‘overlay’ (extra prize money from the guaranteed pool) and therefore offer value. Payout structures vary from site to site, but 10-20% of the field being paid out is common.

Deep Stack Tournaments

Lowdown: Deepstacks are in vogue right now – both live and online – as they afford players a lot more chips for their entry. It’s common to be given 3,000-5,000 in starting chips, but make sure you check the blind structure – if you’re playing a 5k stack but playing 10-minute blinds those extra chips won’t mean a thing.

Re-buys

Lowdown: Re-buy/Add-on (R/A) tournaments allow you to buy more chips if you run out or get below half your stack. At the end of the re-buy period (say, one hour) you can buy an ‘add-on’ for a set amount of chips. If you’re looking to play these, always budget for two re-buys plus one add-on.

Strategy: The play can often be much looser in a re-buy tournament as players have more than ‘one life’ and are therefore more willing to gamble, play a wider range of hands, and chase draws. This can be good if you’re a tight player – just wait for premium hands and play them strong. If you’re happy to budget for the extra re-buys/add-on, consider widening your range of hands (all pairs plus suited connectors and some higher connectors) and play them strongly in late position.

Re-Entry Tournaments: Re-entry tournaments have been gaining popularity in live cardrooms across the globe of late, and they are starting to appear online too.

Slightly different to re-buy tournaments, Re-Entry games allow players to re-enter the same tournament at a later stage, often on a different day if it’s a multi-day tourney. You’ll have to pay the tournament fees again, of course, but think of them as another chance if things don’t go your way.

Double/Triple Chance Tournament

Lowdown: Also popular in live events, Double and Triple Chance tournaments allow you to add a second starting stack to your own at any point in the tournament (or a second AND third in Triple Chance).

Types Of Online Poker Tournaments

Some players like to take the extra stack straight away and utilize the bigger stack early on, or wait and use it as a ‘last chance’ if things go awry.

Fast-Fold Tournaments

Lowdown: Fast-fold has been the buzzword of online poker over the past couple of years, and virtually every network has its own version of fast-fold poker cash games.

Fast-fold basically re-seats you at a different table as soon as you fold your hand, so there’s no waiting around for your hand to end; it’s straight onto the next group of players. Plus, online it means it’s much harder for your opponents to take notes on you.
Some sites are now adapting the format to tournaments. When you join a fast-fold poker tournament, you’ll be part of a large player pool and – like cash games – face a completely different set of players after you fold a hand.

Fast-fold really comes into its own in tournaments because of the wildly varying chip stacks that will occur during a game (often unlike many cash games): just when you’re glad to be on a table of short stacks playing as the chip leader you fold and get transported to a table with 8 fellow big stacks.

Fast-fold tournaments revert to a ‘normal’ tournament structure when it reaches the final table.

Bounty Tournament

Players: 9+

Lowdown: As the name implies, every player in the game has a ‘bounty’ on their heads (in this case, a portion of your buy-in) which can be won by simply knocking a player out. The more players you knock out the more bounties you win – simple.

Freerolls

Players: 9+

Lowdown: Most poker sites feature daily or weekly freerolls to give new players the chance to win cash. They are free to enter or you can use FPPs (Frequent Player Points) to ‘buy’ your way in.

Some poker magazines even carry password-protected freerolls which give away guaranteed cash or seats into major live events. They’re also good ways for online poker rooms to gain new real-money customers.

As you’d expect from a free-to-enter tournament online, freeroll players will play fast and loose, but that’s not to say they’re good places to practise a few moves and take notes on what other players are doing. Most of the time, however, they should be treated just as they are: gimmes.

Live Qualifiers / Satellites

Players: 9+

Types Of Online Poker Tournaments

Types Of Online Poker Tournaments Sites

Lowdown: Have you got the $5,000 or $10,000 to buy straight into a big live poker tournament? You haven’t? Why not try out an online satellite where you can qualify for mere dollars?

Think of satellites as multi-levelled Sit ‘n’ Gos with the winners going through to the next round. When you get to the satellite final you’ll have got there having spent just a few dollars (or less if you used Player Points) and often sites will guarantee a package or two as prizes in the online qualifying final. These will normally include a live tournament buy-in plus travel costs and spending money.

Types Of Online Poker Tournaments Real Money

Strategy: Let’s say you’re playing a major online satellite final and there are 5 prize packages up for grabs. The key thing you need to remember is, like Double or Nothing tournaments, you don’t NEED to win the tournament, just get to the money places. Therefore, make sure you accumulate chips early on, be aggressive with your post-flop play, and hang on to your chip advantage. This will make the bubble play (when you get down to 7 or 6 players) much easier for you.