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Home >> About online poker >> Online poker tournaments - Types and terminology
Online poker tournaments - Types and terminologi
Value is probably something you should consider when looking to find the appropriate poker game for you. In a straight forward tournament, which has the usual sort of buy-in and house fee, with no guaranteed prize pool and nothing out of the ordinary in the way of a prize, value is not generally on offer for poker players.
So, where can you find value?
A prize pool that is guaranteed can become excellent value. For example, if the prize pool guarantee is $20,000 and the poker tournament buy-in is $40 (ignoring poker tournament fees for a moment) for the guarantee to be met, 500 poker poker players must buy-in (500 x $40). If only 400 players buy-in, that leaves a $4000 overlay for the poker room to pick up and leaves the player with excellent value for money as a $40 buy-in is now essentially a $50 buy-in.
How about freerolls? Well if you're a strong poker player, you're most likley thinking 'no thanks". Never the less, things are not always that way. The prize pool at some freerolls have now reached thousands of dollars and poker player numbers are comparatively low in many of these events. Think about it. You're paying $0 to enter a $2,000 tournament. If only 100 players join this tournament and the top ten are paid, what superb value for money you're getting. First place prizes are 25% of the prize pool at the very lowest. In this example, that would be a minimum of $500. Most poker players, no matter how strong, will not ignore that kind of free money.
One of the biggest advantages of hitting a poker tournament relative to a cash game is the consistency factor: at higher levels, with huge blinds and antes, tilt is an inevitable guest in a poker player‘s game. With that, odds are that other poker tournament players will get tilted quicker than you, and the game will turn into a crapshoot. Remember, they can‘t leave the shootout until they‘re out of ammo. Additionally, a single pokertournament might be enough to make a whole fortune, and a great example of an incredibly successful tournament player is Chris Moneymaker or Robert Vakornyi.
If you are a newcomer to the world of poker and you're getting interested in poker tournaments, this article should provide some insight into the errors that new poker tournament players rarely avoid.
A hypothetical situation: Player A sits in an online internet poker tournament, holding a K-J suited on the button, an above-average, not even overwhelming hand. Moreover, it even doesn't hold a 2:1 odds favorite against a much worse (at the first glance) 8-7 off-suit.
As players on the button normally try to steal blinds, the K-J suited hand looks well in this situation. Often, others will react loosely even with inferior hands. Player A in this thought experiment has about $2,000 in chips, and raises the big blind's $400 up to $1.300. The big blind moves all-in, maybe thinking there's a chance Player A is going to fold, but with $2,700 already in the pot, and Player A having only $700 remaining, A is going to call in this situation with almost any hand. The big blind had pocket fours.
If poker player A had moved all-in, would the big blind poker player have played his pocket 4's? Calling with small pairs certainly wouldn't be called a best move in poker, but as it wouldn't be likely for Player A to fold either, this was actually what the big blind was doing.
The "morale" of this situation is that if you hold a hand with which your raise automatically commits you to the pot, moving all-in could be a good alternative. If you are already in a winning position, you will reap even more, and if you are in a losing position, there's a bigger chance that your poker opponent will fold.
Basic Online Poker Tournament Advice
Be sure you have the time to play the entire poker tournament that you registered for. Online internet poker tournaments, depending on the number of participating poker players, can take from 2 hours to 5, 6 and even 7 hours - on some occassion even longer. Hanging on in the first hour is a big stepping stone to win. In the first hour of tournaments, in my experience, I have noticed that half of the poker players eliminated. If you are playing with 1,000 players, whether you have doubled up or not, after the first hour your chances of cashing are doubled.
Getting a read on online internet poker players is much harder than doing so at offline poker. There is no way of picking up body movements, ticks, or the way they handle their chips relative to their hand. Normally these types of things, tell you if a poker player is bluffing or if he/she has the nuts. Most online internet poker sites have a note system. This allows you to scrible down notes on certain players and their type of play - e.g. when you see them bluff or slow-play. You may have a decent hand and a player you have a note on bets you all-in. If you have already observed and written down that he/she is a big bluffer or tight player it will most likely assist your with your decision whether to go all-in or not.
At the beginning of every poker tournament you should evaluate how many chips it takes to reach the final poker table. E.g., if every poker player starts with 3,000 chips, and there are 100 poker players that will be participating in the poker tournament that's 300,000 total chips in play, which should be divided by 9 (typically there are 9 poker players per table). Hence, approx. 33,000 should be enough to put you at the final poker tournament table. It is imperative to observe all the time how close you are to the paying positions. If you have AJ suited and someone goes all in before you, you may not make that call if you are on the button for pay (last person to go out of the tournament without winning money). Saying you have assessed that 33,000 will put you in the final table, you have 36,000 and decide to sit out because there are still 14 poker players in the tournament. This is bad and allows people to steal your blinds. You can decide not to play by folding until you have reached the final table.
It is easy to find tournaments you can afford. Poker Stars, Party Poker, and Royal Vegas Poke, offer a number of different buy-in events. My site of choice is Poker Stars- they offer tournaments ranging from $1-$500.00 buy-in and with a payout of well over $100,000 (usually) for their big $500.00 tournament and satellites for as little as $3 to win your way in. Give them a try !
Poker Tournaments Key Terms 101:
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Sign Up/Entry Fee. The amount of money paid to the house. Relative smaller than the buy-in fee.
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Buy-In.The amount of money paid after the entry fee, this usually goes to the prize pool.
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Starting Chips.The player receives his chips. Number of chips vary for each tournament, but typically its 1,500.
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Starting Chips Bonus. In selected tournaments, players receive bonus chips in addition to their starting chips.
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Re-buy. Player has the option to buy additional chips. Again, rules vary for each tournament.
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Add-on. Option for purchasing chips during the tournament regardless of the remaining chips still in the player’s possession.
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Prize Pool. The total amount of prize and money, this includes the player buy-ins, add-ons, re-buys, and the additional money contributed by the tournament host.
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Round. The specified time for each betting limit. Varies for every tournament.
Types of Poker Tournaments:
Before joining a tournament, you must first be clear on what type entering in.
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Major Tournament. Large tournaments that last from a week up to a month, with large buy-in fees.
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Minor Tournament. Tournaments that usually last for three days, with much smaller buy-in and entry fees.
- Free Roll Tournament. No buy-in fee required to enter the tournament.
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Re-buy Tournament. Players are given the option to buy more chips, usually the same amount as the original buy-in. Tournaments vary with their Re-buy rules.
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Guaranteed Tournament. There is a guarantee at the start of the game of a fixed prize pool, regardless of the number of players buy-in to the tournament.
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Satellite Tournament. One-table tournament with the purpose of awarding winners with buy-ins to major tournaments.
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Shootout. A player must eliminate all his opponents so he can advance to the final round. Then all finalists will try to beat each other in a freezeout format until only one player remains.
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Freezeout. Players who run out of chips will be eliminated. The last player remaining at the end of the game wins the prize pool.
Poker Tournaments General Tips
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This may still depend on the type of tournament, but players have the tendency to play more aggressively or loosely at the early stages of the game, especially in re-buy tournaments where they have the option to purchase more chips at a certain point of the tournament.
Keep in mind that your goal at the beginning stages is to keep a decent stack of chips. This will give you a secure position in the upcoming rounds.
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You will notice significant changes towards the middle stages of the tournament. Blind and bets will be raised and your playing strategy will take a turn. Your tendency will be to invest highly to try and beat your opponents. But smart players know how to fold immediately if they have a weak hand.
Tournaments are a matter of survival, so don’t waste your chips if you think you have an un-winnable hand. You won’t last long if you start being too aggressive now.
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If you’re lucky to reach the final rounds, the blinds will leave your chips in a critical position. These final stages will also test your skills and strategy to grab that precious prize pool.
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Check where you stand with your chips. If you have a good stack, play aggressive and focus on eliminating your opponents. If not, be careful and call only if you have a good hand. Setting your goal on that prize pool will require cautious strategy and focus.
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Regular poker tips and strategy apply to tournament games. What you need to work on is increasing your stack to make it last until the final rounds. Don’t rely on luck, it will run out eventually.
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Consider all scenarios and you’ll have to play tournaments for a long time before you can finally hit big. When you play aggressively, your opponents will be waiting for a chance to take you down. Beware when this happens, protect your chips and your chance of grabbing that prize pool.
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If it’s a Single Tournament, be careful of playing suited connectors aggressively because their value is smaller than expected since players will be short-stacked. Also take notice of your opponents, chances are you’ll run into them in more than one tournaments.
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If it’s a Multi-Table Tournament, learn to pace yourself. Tournaments lasts a long while so be prepared, place your bets wisely to protect your stack.
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Observe your opponents’ betting patterns as the tournament progresses. Creating a good opponent model will give you a hint when to raise or bluff.
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The best tip we can give you is the simplest of all: practice, practice, practice. Continue playing your favorite poker variation until you’ve mastered your moves.
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