With the introduction of poker online, there has been an increase in the amount of different poker tournaments that are available to us. Apart from the different types of poker available like Omaha, Seven card stud, five card draw, Caribbean stud and texas holdem with its no limits and pot limit games, we can now choose from a variety of ways to play each type in a tournament. The most popular tournament is No-Limit Texas Holdem as it is usually played at a high pace and with some high stakes, its not unusual to find tournaments of over 5000 people these are usually free-rolls. A lot of different terminology is used that enables you to know what kind of tournament you are entering so when you see the words “No-Limit Texas holdem Turbo Freeroll” you will know exactly what that is.

Type of Poker Being Played

The first part is self explanatory and will tell you what type of poker you will be playing. This will enable you to quickly find a Five card stud or a texas holdem game depending which type you prefer to play. This is then usually followed by the limits. These too are pretty self explanatory in that a no-limit game there is no limits to the bet size, a limit game means there is a limit put on how much you can bet and raise and finally pot limit where your limited to the size of the pot. The no-limit games will run a lot quicker with many people being able to go “all-in” and when they lose go out. The latter two will take a lot longer as players cant lose their chips as quickly.

Types of Poker Tournaments

Once you have figured out what kind of game you want you will usually be faced with one more choice and that’s the type of tournament. With the first part being easy to work through as you know what you wish to play, the last part can confuse players as there are so many different poker tournaments to choose from.

Freezeout Tournaments: This is the most basic type there is. You all start with the same stack and once its gone, so are you.

Rebuys: Within the first hour of this tournament you are able to re-purchase your starting stack, this means you will have to pay the original stake you paid at the start for your extra chips.

Freeroll Poker Tournaments: as this suggests these are free to enter and there will usually be a cash prize for the highest place players, this is a great way for you to get some tournament practice without using your own cash.

Qualifier Satellites: These typically have no cash prize at the end, instead players are able to play for tickets into a higher stake tournament or a seat at a large cash tournament. We had a winner of the World Series Of Poker Tournament a few years ago that actually got there through satellites online.

Super Satellites: These usually hold huge fields of up to 10,000 players all gunning for the top 50 places. The prize is usually a ticket into that weeks big money guaranteed tournament.

Guaranteed Tournaments: This will usually be a very large buy in tournament that no matter how many players enter they will guarantee a huge amount of money for the top players.

Turbo Poker Tournaments: Fast furious action as all the players are put on a timer and you usually have anywhere between 15 and 30 seconds to react to each play. Excellent when you have not got 6 hours free to finish a normal speed tournament.

Super Turbo Tournaments: Just like Turbo but much, much quicker.

Hyper Turbo Tournaments: Not for the faint hearted and much depends on luck, players start with small chip stacks and you will get two options all-in or fold.

SNG´s (Sit and Go): Very popular amongst the online community. Basically if it’s a 90 player SNG then you join the players waiting and as soon as 90 players are ready the tournament will begin.

Headsup Freezeout: These versions are usually played over a number of rounds to determine a winner. You play 1 versus 1 until last man standing.

Deep Stack Tournaments: You will generally start the game with a very large amount of chips. The blinds are usually a lot slower too making for a longer game with a lot of skill.

Big Ante/ Anteup Tournaments: You will begin each hand having to pay an ante, this makes for some very large pots.

Mixed Game: Only really found online a mixed game will have you play a different type of poker each hand, so you could be playing Omaha one round then 5 card stud the next. Only players that have good knowledge of all the ways to play poker should attempt this.

Pro Bounty Knockout: Most sites will have their own resident poker pro, in these tournaments should you knock one of them out then you will collect a cash reward.

Shootout Tournaments: These play out like 1 table games and the top 2 or 3 will go through to the next round until you end up with the final table. In some tournaments it will only be the player that wins the table that goes through.

Private Tournaments: These will have been set up by organisations and will need a password or an invite to enter. Most sites will let you set up your own tournaments.

With so many different poker tournaments to choose from there will be something that suits every ones needs. You will now be able to look at the list of tournaments and find the games you want to play.

Which Is The Best Poker Room to play tournament poker?

You can’t really go wrong with any of the rooms that are listed below. Simply chose a room that appeals to you the most. There are a lot of good poker rooms around but there are two poker rooms for me that stand out above the rest.

Pokerstars is the largest online poker room and has been for a few years now. This is my first choice for playing online because the traffic is huge, the software is fast and smooth and the rewards can be just as good as rakeback if you play enough. If you want to play big poker tournaments Pokerstars is the place to go!

Upcoming Poker Tournaments

In the following table you are able to find a list of all the upcoming poker tournaments. Most of them offer you guaranteed value which means that there is nothing less then the guaranteed prizepool to win!

Tags: deepstack, different poker tournament types, freezeout, rebuy