Poker tournaments

How Poker tournaments work

In a standard Poker tournament, all players start playing with the same number of chips. As the game progresses, the mandatory blinds and antes increase at regular intervals, and when a player loses all his/her chips, the player that gets all the chips in play is proclaimed the winner. 

How to play a tournament

You can find the tournaments in the Tournaments or Sit & Go tab, depending on the type of tournament you want to participate in. Select any of the tournaments to see all the information you need to know, from the type of game to the buy-in, and if the registration is open. Click "Register" to play the tournament.

In all tournaments, each player is assigned a random seat at a random table. Players will only be given a set amount of time to act. If it takes too long, a reminder will appear and you will also be granted the option to activate the "time bank", which will give you extra time to think.

Tournament Money (TM)

Usually, if you win a ticket to participate in an event through a satellite tournament, you will have the choice to unregister and receive tournament money in return. Tournament money can then be used to register for other tournaments. Please note that tournament money is not real money, as it cannot be used in cash games and cannot be withdrawn. You can view your tournament money balance at any time by clicking in the "Cashier" button.

Types of Tournaments

There are a few ways to classify the basic formats of Poker tournaments, with each classification relating to a particular aspect of a tournament. For example, a tournament can either be played in a single table format or multi-table format. This particular classification relates to the number of tables in play.

The following are all the main classifications for all the different types of tournaments:

Single Table/Multi Table

The distinction between a single table tournament (STT) and a multi table tournament (MTT) is as obvious as the names suggest. An STT is played on just one table, while an MTT is played across two or more tables.

STTs are the simpler of the two formats, as all the entrants are seated at one table and they keep playing until the winner is determined.

MTTs take place over more than one table, and possibly hundreds of tables for particularly large tournaments. As and when players are eliminated during and MTT, other players may have to move tables to ensure that players are spread out as equally as possible. As a tournament progresses, the number of tables in play is reduced until the last few players are all sitting at just one table. This is known as the “final table” and it is where the tournament is played out until its conclusion.

Sit & Go/Scheduled

The difference between Sit & Go tournaments (SNGs) and Scheduled tournaments is equally simple. An SNG has no fixed start time, but rather starts as soon as the required number of players has registered. The majority of SNGs take place over a single table, although small MTT SNGs are fairly common too.

A scheduled tournament has a fixed start time. Tournaments of this type have a registration period during which players can enter and then the tournament will start at a pre-determined date and time. Players will be able to keep registering after the tournament started, during a late registration period.

Regular/Turbo/Hyper-Turbo

The terms Regular and Turbo refer to the overall speed of a tournament. They are basically a way of describing which blind structure is being used. We will explain more about blind structures later, but in very simple terms, they relate to the speed and rate at which the blinds increase through the different levels. During a regular tournament, they will increase relatively slowly, whereas in a turbo tournament they increase more quickly.

There are also Hyper-Turbo tournaments. In these type of tournaments, the blinds go up at an even faster rate than in turbo tournaments.

Freezeout/Rebuy

The term Freezeout applies to any tournament where players are eliminated as soon as they lose all of their chips. Most tournaments fall into this category, but  on Rebuy tournaments, players are allowed to buy more chips when they have lost their starting stack during the initial stages of the tournament.

Typically, a player will have to pay an additional stake in order to rebuy. Then, he will receive the same amount of chips he started with. All the additional money spent by players on rebuys is added to the prize pool. Rebuying is only allowed for a fixed period of time (this varies from one tournament to the next), but the number of rebuys allowed by each player is usually unlimited. Once the rebuy period comes to an end, the tournament effectively becomes a freezeout.

Full Ring/Shorthanded/Heads-Up

Tournaments can also be classified based on the number of players allowed on each table. In a full ring tournament, there will be nine or ten players per table, while a heads-up game is limited to just two players per table. A shorthanded game typically allows up to six players per table.

Identification of Participants

Visible

Tournaments usually allow everyone to see both the username of each player, as well as all their specific information (avatar, level, site badge).

Anonymous

Anonymous tournaments are events in which players are temporarily assigned a name, such as Anonymous 1, Anonymous 2, etc (they will also be assigned a temporary avatar and their other data will be hidden on tables). This temporary pseudonym will appear both on the tournament registration list and on the tournament tables.

Additional rewards

No rewards

Tournaments with no bonus reward are the most common form of tournament, where players try to win a portion of the prize pool according to the place they finish.

Knockout Bounty

Knockout Bounty (KO) tournaments are a type of tournaments in which the player wins a "reward" each time he eliminates another player from the tournament. In a knockout tournament, each player will pay an extra buy-in, which will serve as a reward for that player. For example, if a tournament with an elimination reward has a total buy-in of € 20 + € 5 + € 2, € 20 of which will go to the prize pool, €5 will be the reward for the player who eliminates you from the tournament, and €2 will be the tournament registration fee (rake).

Available Tournaments

Freerolls

We have a long list of daily freeroll tournaments in which our players will not have to pay to participate and win. These tournaments can be found both played as freezeout and as rebuy tournaments. You will find these tournaments under the "Tournaments" section by selecting "Freeroll" in the tournament type filter.

Guaranteed

In our tournaments section we also have a wide variety of guaranteed tournaments in which we guarantee a predetermined amount for the prize pool regardless of how many players register to play. You will find these tournaments under the "Tournaments" section by selecting "Guaranteed" in the tournament type filter.

Regular

Regular tournaments are generally low-cost tournaments (micro tournaments) with an unlimited number of rebuys. You will find these tournaments under the "Tournaments" section by selecting "Regular" in the tournament type filter.

Knockout

Knockout (KO) tournaments are, as explained in previous sections, a knockout tournament where the player earns rewards as they eliminate other players from the tournament.

Progressive Knockout

Progressive knockout tournaments are an exciting variant of KO tournaments. Like a standard KO tournament, you win a bounty every time you eliminate an opponent, but there is a slight change: you earn part of the eliminated player's reward immediately, but part of it is added to YOUR reward (in general, 50%). As you eliminate other players, your own bounty increases, making you the target of other bounty hunters.

Most progressive knockout tournaments allocate half of your entry to the prize pool, and the other half to your bounty.

Satellites

A satellite is a Poker tournament in which players try to win an entry into a larger tournament. You will find these tournaments under the "Tournaments" section by selecting "Satellites" in the tournament type filter.

Multi-stage

Multi-stage tournaments is a type of tournament in which the tournament is divided into two stages, a qualifying stage and the final stage. These stages take place in separate tournaments but belong to the same event or tournament.

Qualifying Stage

They are time-limited tournaments that grant those who manage to win tickets that allow them to participate in the final stage. Users in these tournaments can re-enter and the chips they manage to accumulate at this stage will be their starting chips in the final stage. In general, the qualification stage is carried out with several tournaments on different days so that a greater number of players can participate and in order to also give the opportunity for those who failed to qualify in previous days to win their ticket to the final stage.

Final Stage

It is a tournament whose registration is closed (only players who participated in the qualifying stage can participate) and in which all players start with the amount of chips they got in the qualifying stage. Additionally, this tournament, being a continuation of the previous stage, begins in the blind level in which the qualifying stage finished.

System Cancellation Policy

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation policy regulates the compensations made to players in case of a tournament cancellation. This policy applies to regular tournaments and Sit&Go's.

Used terms:

There are three different compensation policies based on when a tournament is canceled:

Tournament is canceled before its start

All players get back their contributions and fee paid at registration in the same form they have been paid initially: cash for cash and tournament money for tournament money. If a ticket was used in the registration, the player can get his ticket back or, in alternative, he can receive the same amount in TM, depending on which option is chosen in the tournament's settings.

If a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool is canceled, we will only refund the buy-ins and not the guaranteed prize pool.

If a Knockout tournament is canceled, the Knockout fee paid at the time of registration will be refunded.

Tournament is canceled after start (prize zone is not yet reached)

1. The House takes the fee paid by eliminated players.

2. The remaining players get back their fees.

3.Their contributions are allocated as follows:

- 50% of contributions are divided equally among the remaining players

- 50% of contributions are divided among the remaining players proportionally to their amount of chips left at the beginning of the hand in which the tournament is canceled

In Satellite tournaments with “Tickets by prize pool” Payout table, remaining players get back the amount in cash, based on the above-mentioned scheme. Tickets are not awarded.

In GTD-tournaments, the guaranteed prize amount is returned to the House, contributions are allocated among players based on the above-mentioned scheme.

In Knockout tournaments, remaining players get paid with the knockout bounty put on their head at tournament canceling.

In Time-limited tournaments with “Tickets for surviving”:

1. The House takes the fee paid by eliminated players.

2. The remaining players get back their fees.

3. The remaining players get back their contributions.

Tournament is canceled after start (prize zone is already reached)

1. The House takes the fee paid by eliminated players.

2. The remaining players get back their fees.

3. The remaining players are awarded with the minimum prize the players would take - the prize for the nearest non-occupied place.

4. If after the distribution of minimum prizes there are still means in the tournament prize pool (consisting of player contributions), they are divided among the remaining players proportionally to their amount of chips left at the beginning of the hand in which the tournament is canceled.

In GTD-tournaments, the minimum prizes are paid from player contributions (just like in not GTD-tournaments).

If the amount of player contributions is not enough to pay minimum prizes, the House provides an insufficient amount from the guaranteed prize amount. The remaining amount of the guaranteed prize is returned to the House.

In Knockout tournaments, remaining players get paid the same amount as the knockout bounty put on their head at tournament canceling.