Poker these days is gaining more and more popularity and it is poker tournaments that are leading in its statistics. Our review article will be devoted to which of their formats are most in demand among players. We will try to figure out how and by what rules poker tournaments are held. We will learn their basic simple principles and try to make it so that even a beginner can understand it. Poker Tournaments – the main At the heart of any tournament is the struggle for the main prize, the second distinguishing feature of tournament poker is the buy-in or, in simple words, the fee for entering the competition. The entry paid by each participant becomes the basis for the game bank and for the prize fund, respectively. Note that there is no buy-in in cash poker.Collage: My Lucky StoryHaving registered in the tournament and paid the mandatory entry fee (set in advance by the organizers of the event), the participant begins his struggle for victory. And he can have a lot of rivals, as, for example, in MTT (Multi-Table-Tournament) tournaments with a large number of tables and players. During the tournament, less experienced participants are eliminated, and those whose level of play is good enough move on. Note that the mandatory blind bets, meaning the small and big blinds, are gradually increasing. The tournament ends with the victory of one single participant – he takes the main prize. Popular formats of poker tournaments In fact, there are a lot of options for holding poker tournaments, and we cannot tell about each of them in this article. But we have prepared an overview of the most popular formats of modern poker tournaments. Below we will talk about such types of competitions as Bounty tournaments and Shootouts, Satellites – where instead of money you can win a ticket to a more serious tournament and the original Double or Nothing, which translates as “twice as much or nothing” and, of course, Spin & Go tournaments, where the winner can get the most impressive super-prize in comparison with the buy-in. Let’s start with the Bounty format, it has another specific name – a knockout tournament. The main difference of this particular type of competition is that players receive a “financial incentive” for knocking out their opponents from the game, so to speak. The prize fund also exists in this format and it is collected from the same entry fees. The specifics of such tournaments dictate their own game rules to the participants – here you can observe the loose style of poker much more often – often there are calls and all-in decisions (that is, all-in). Note that in classical tournaments this is a rather rare occurrence. The shootout tournament in English shootout literally translates as “shootout” and there are also cash prizes for knocked out participants, but the difference is that they are knocked out in stages. Shootout begins with a certain number of participants at the poker tables – this stage will end when only one player remains at each table – the winner. At the next stage, the fight will go at the tables, between the winners of the first one. The final game will be a fight between the best at the final table of the tournament. Satellite tournaments are a very popular form of poker competition. Its peculiarity and main difference is that here the participants do not receive a cash prize, but the opportunity to win a pass, so to speak, a ticket to a larger and more significant event. At the same time, satellite players pay smaller entry fees, with buy-ins rarely exceeding $100. Note that satellite tournaments are held in two versions (by the number of participants) – in the MTT (Multi-Table-Tournament) format with a large number of tables and players and at one table for a small number of players. Spin & Go tournaments or in English – Spin & Go are held at a fairly fast pace. Their main feature is the so-called prize flexibility – the winner can take the classic, for this format, double buy-in or get a very large jackpot, which can be thousands of times larger than the tournament entry fee. There is no ante in this type of competition, the blind levels rise at a very fast pace here. The final prize goes to only one participant, with the exception of those very rare cases when there is a consolation prize, according to the conditions of the tournament. DoN – Double or Nothing tournaments are held in the Sit & Go format – at such events, according to the literal translation, players either receive prize money in the amount of a double buy-in or receive nothing. Half of the participants remain the winners, and the second leaves empty-handed. This format of the tournament provides for an unusual prize distribution – the half of the participants who retained their stack (in any amount) receives money equal to two amounts of the entry fee, and those who have left the game are left with nothing. Summing up, we once again understand how diverse the world of this popular game is. A variety of poker rooms and event organizers strive to surprise and attract customers by offering different options and formats of poker competitions. Players highlight some of them, ensuring their popularity, while other events do not remain in the tops, and sometimes they completely leave the gaming arena.
