Texas holdem tournament
When you have found yourself in an online poker room, there's one thing you just have to find out first of all. This is the type of poker tournament you are about to participate in. Poker tournaments may vary greatly. Do not get confused, it is not that hard. By knowing their major types, you will at least know what to expect in this or that situation. Here is a simple classification for you to feel next to at home at the poker table.
Play money or real money
You are probably saying, ‘All poker is for money and there can’t be anything for free.’ Do not be so categorical and you will see that you are not absolutely right on the topic. Poker tournaments can be divided into play money and real money tournaments. The key to understanding the difference is in the buy-in, i.e. in the amount of money you invest to enter the tournament.
In play money poker tournaments you only pay the play money. In fact, you don’t invest any money of your own. Logically enough, all you can gain here is practice, but not real money. However, you get all the breath-taking process of the game for free. Just imagine that!
In real money poker tournaments you pay your own money to join the game. There is also a variant between the two above. This is called the freerolls. You only invest play money to join the game. However, you then get an opportunity to win real money. Isn’t that awesome? You do not lose your own hard-earned money, but still can win that of other people.
Rebuys and Freezeouts
Another classification you might find interesting is that of rebuy tournaments and freezeouts. In rebuy tournaments the players whu have busted, i.e. lost all their chips, are allowed to “rebuy” more chips and go on with the game. This usually happens on the initial stages of the game (usually for the first three rounds only). In some games there are no limitations as to who can “rebuy” more chips, which means that any player can do that. In others only the busted players can “rebuy”. An interesting feature here is that in rebuys the amount of the pot is naturally bigger than in other types of tournaments.
The end of the rebuy period can be followed by an add-on, which is a one-time moment in the game when all the players are allowed to “buy” additional chips. After the add-on the tournament becomes a freezeout - the type of tournaments with no rebuys allowed.
Elimination and shootouts
Elimination tournaments are one of the most common type. These are based on the fact that all the players begin the game with the same amount of chips and the play goes on until one of the players still active has accumulated all the chips. However, he is not the only one to get the reward.
As players are eliminated, i.e. fold and are no longer active in the game, the remaining players are re-seated at fewer and fewer tables in the room.
In shootouts players are still eliminated, but this time the tables are not combined to re-seat the players. The game at each table continues till there is a winner. Then the winners compete at one table.
Sit & Go and scheduled tournaments
Sit & Go tournaments are those which do not have any fixed schedule and can be contrasted to scheduled in this respect. The play begins as soon as all the players are seated. So go online and you will still be right in time for your Sit & Go.
The date of the scheduled tournament is known beforehand. You can always see the schedule in the lobby of the poker room you usually play in. The players need to subscribe to the tournament in advance in order to play.
Satellite tournaments
Satellites are the last type to be mentioned here. If you win a satellite, it is not the money that you get, but the right to enter another higher-level tournament.
So that wasn’t that bad, was it? Now that you can safely enter a poker room, look around and find the type of the tournament you liked more. If you want my advice, try online first.