The main types of poker tournaments

Let’s start with the fact that a poker tournament is a knockout game. Two players are enough to start, but there may be several thousand. To hold such large-scale events, satellites are needed – tournament competitions, where instead of money, a participant receives a pass (won, not bought) for the next, more prestigious tournament instead of money.

The winner of a poker tournament is the player who manages to get all the chips in the game by the final table. He gets first place and the biggest cash prize. Other participants take their tournament places according to the order of elimination – the penultimate eliminated is in second place, the player who left the table in front of him is in third and so on. To prevent the pleasant game from dragging on too long, the organizers use an increase in the blinds – the required bets, it also serves as an incentive for the players and preserves the value of the chips as the tournament participants are reduced. Note that the blind growth time is a kind of indicator – the less often the size of the mandatory bet increases, the higher the level and prestige of the tournament. There are three main types of poker tournaments – they are divided according to the following categories or criteria: prize distribution, access to the tournament and the number of participants. Let’s talk about each of them in more detail. Options for the distribution of prize money in poker tournaments The first option – Fixed Poker Tournament – translated into Russian – a fixed poker tournament. In such competitions, only the top three receive a cash prize. Imagine the situation – ten players participate in the tournament, the total buy-in is $200. This means that the winner will get half – that is, 100 dollars; the second-place finisher will receive $60, and the third-place finisher will receive $40. The rest of the players do not receive any cash rewards. The second option – Proportional Poker Tournament – translated into Russian – a proportional poker tournament. Here, the prize money depends on the number of participants and is divided proportionally, that is, in a proportional ratio – with a larger number of participants, there will be more prizes. Often at major poker tournaments, 36 places finish the competition, starting from the first. The main part of the winnings is divided between the players of the final table. How poker tournaments are divided by access Let’s start with the Open Poker Tournament – open poker tournaments. From the name it becomes clear that anyone can take part in them. The brightest representatives of this category of tournaments are the WSOP – World Series of Poker and No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, we note that the buy-in for the WSOP is ten thousand dollars. Another option is the Invitational Poker Tournament – here everything is according to the translation – an invitational poker tournament. You can get into such a competition only if you are special and the organizers invite you. You can get an invitation to such an event due to your place in the poker rating, if you were chosen by one of the sponsors of the tournament, and according to the results of a certain draw. Categories of poker tournaments by the number of participants The first category – MTT or Multi-Table – a literal translation – a lot of tables. This means that a very large number of people can take part in the event, periodically up to several hundred tables are used to accommodate them. This category includes satellite tournaments, one of which featured the already legendary Mr. Moneymaker. Starting with a $39 buy-in, the regular accountant earned $2.5 million and a WSOP gold bracelet in the 2003 World Series final. In our article about the first poker tournaments, we told you about the Moneymaker Effect. The second option – SNT Single-Table – literally translates as One table. This format is the opposite of the previous one and has a strict limit on the number of players – there can be from eight to ten. That is, the number of participants in the SNT tournament is equal to the number of seats at the poker table. The game starts from the moment when all the places at the table are occupied. This feature was the reason for the appearance of the second name SNG or Sit-And-Go – translated into Russian “Sit down and start.” These tournaments are quite popular in online poker, and often the prizes are fixed, like in the Fixed Poker Tournament. In this overview article, we wanted to introduce you to some of the intricacies of the vibrant life of poker tournaments. We told you by what criteria they are divided and what are their main differences. The topic of poker has been one of the main gambling entertainments in the world for many years, even for those who do not play this game or have so far mastered it only at their home level, so to speak, it is interesting what happens at the big poker tables at the most popular tournaments . The media is constantly watching who will get the gold bracelets of the World Series, covering the life and career of the richest players. We will try to provide you with interesting facts and news about this interesting game.