In the modern world where relaxing is a top priority, online poker tournaments continue to grow in popularity. Poker tournaments are a series of special events where players compete in poker games. 

From high-stakes world series tournaments to weekly competitions, the best online poker tournament sites have various events you should look out for. Especially if you’re looking for a great payday with loads of fun. Many casinos offer poker tournaments daily in their card rooms. But if you’re tired or do not want to leave your comfort zone to play, There are online poker tournaments. 

Poker requires the use of different strategies and skills in order to win. In this post, we’ll give you enough information to start playing poker tournaments and get money in the bag!

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Online Poker Tournaments –A Revolution!

The best poker tournaments are played online. Do you know why? ‘Cause you get to be comfortable in your own space! The rise of online poker didn’t happen in a day. In fact, poker has been a popular game since the early days of casino games decades ago.

Like every other industry that’s evolving, poker has begun to make use of the digital space. Operators are encouraging investments and exploration in the online poker tournament space. 

There are certain things you must consider before playing in online poker tournaments. But first, we’ll take you through the process of playing at a tournament. Novice or not, you’re in for a win with this one! 

How to Play in Online Poker Tournaments

As with every other poker game, certain skills must first be refined before you can play effectively and be guaranteed a win. 

An online poker tournament is a type of competition that requires buy-ins. In exchange for these, you get several chips that determine whether you can progress with the tournament game.

When playing poker online, you can find tournaments with low buy-ins for as little as a dollar. 

There are two types of stakes required when you’re playing an online tournament game – the small stake and the high stake. 

However, with a good strategy, you can play and win regardless of the conditions involved. 

Here’s a quick guide to playing an impressive poker game. 

• Mark Your Opponents 

It’s important that you take in-game notes on your opponent. This gives you an understanding of how your partner plays and assists your decision-making. 

In every setting, using a heads-up display to identify your opponent’s game tendencies is helpful and gives you an advantage over other players. You should know that many online poker tournaments take several hours before they’re completed and a winner is picked. Therefore, you should leverage any advantage that you have over your competition to win. 

• Take Note of the Deep Runs

Taking note of the deep runs in online poker tournaments makes you a top-notch player. It’s proof that you’ve done your homework and you’re ready to play! These deep runs, as you’d expect, are found on only the best online poker tournament sites to show the results of their tournaments and players over time. 

Deep runs are also known as deep stack tournaments. The deep stack tournament is one where players start their games with many chips. 

While these tournaments vary in quality depending on how experienced a player is, they tend to favor players and help them win their games with higher stakes. 

While running deep in tournaments, you must make the game endings your biggest priority. How? 

As you run deep online, avoid opening or starting any new tables or tournaments towards the end. This will help you pay closer attention to your opponents and to zone in on their end game. 

• Adopt Bluffing 

Bluffing plays an important role when it comes to winning in poker tournaments. In fact, the best players make excessive use of it to win against their opponents. 

You might wonder how bluffing might work. Here’s how – bluffing helps you to manipulate your opponents by leading them into thinking they have an idea about your cards. 

While you have no control over the cards given to you, you can make other players think you have bad cards when really, you have good ones and vice versa.

This great poker tournament strategy, combined with good timing skills, has helped masters in the game win numerous times.

• Be Wary of Your Position

Know that every player has a strategy and they intend to win. So how do you stand out from the crowd and make yourself a winner in an online poker tournament?

First, it’s imperative to know that the different positions you might take in games determine your best play. Therefore, at every crossroad you find yourself in these technical positions, you must have the proficiency to envision your opponent’s move and to know when to fold. 

• Prepare Laying Down Big Hands

Having a good knowledge of poker hand ranking helps you to determine if you have an upper hand in the game and whether players can win against you. 

Therefore, you must pay attention to every player in the online poker tournament by observing carefully. This will give you the necessary understanding and confidence you need to play and win the online poker tournament.

• Leverage the Balanced Style Rule

A balanced style in poker uses different actions in similar situations to win. By using this rule, your hand patterns will be difficult to read which can help you to win the game easily. 

Rules of Poker Tournaments 

Unlike in simple poker, there are a number of things to take into account when playing in a poker tournament. 

Before the tournament commences, players pay an entry fee and buy-ins to be eligible for the tournament. 

In turn, you get a certain amount of chips and a seat in the tournament. Depending on the online poker tournament site you opt for, you can either top up your chips when they run out, or quit the game. 

Several rules guide online poker tournaments. The rules ensure a fair game for all players. While each variation of poker has its own set of rules, certain standards apply across the board. 

• The poker rules are divided into the three following categories:

House Rules

Since the World Series of Poker oversees nearly every online and physical poker tournament, you’re required to adhere to its regulations.

To play in an online real-money poker tournament, players must be aged 21 or above and be in a jurisdiction where online poker is allowed. 

Here, once you use up your chips, you’ll automatically leave the game. In any case of re-entry, you’d be entering the game as a new player. 

Multi-table Rules

The multi-table rule is quite different from others. This is because there’s an array of games with different opponents and experiences. The multi-table game consists of nine to ten players competing for a seat at the final table. 

This game requires patience and discipline to be a winner. Multi-table games begin at predetermined times and seats are assigned randomly. This means you can be placed anywhere before the finals.

Sit-and-go Rules

Sit-and-go rules are similar to multi-table poker tournament rules. But unlike the multi-table rule, with sit-and-go, your first seat is where you will play until you reach the finals with the same opponents. 

While a multi-table tournament might last many hours,  sit-and-go tournaments last less than an hour. This, makes it easy for players to play without spending a lot of time.

The multi-table and sit-and-go tournaments are the two basic types of poker tournaments currently. To determine the winner, the blind level increases steadily at different levels and the tournament officially ends when a player has all the chips given in the game. 

Difference Between Live Poker and Online Poker Tournaments 

Online poker tournaments continue to grow in popularity. With online poker, it’s possible to play against any opponent in any part of the world. It also lets you play multiple tables at the same time, increasing your chances of winning. 

Online poker tournament play money gives you the opportunity to play and practice games with other professionals. 

Playing in online tournaments requires a better grasp of the fundamentals than in live poker tournaments. This includes knowing how to calculate odds, and understanding the patterns betting requires. Live tournaments require less calculation but do require extreme patience, coupled with composure and competence. 

In online poker qualifying tournaments, it’s imperative to calculate the odds in the game properly. Since you’ll be unable to see your opponents’ cards, you must be careful not to lose your chips. 

As an online poker tournament player, bluffing is much more effective than in a live poker tournament. The passive game method that live poker encourages makes bluffing a weak strategy. However, using bluffing in online poker tournaments gives you leverage to do way better than your online opponents. 

Best sites For Online Poker Tournaments

Unlike cash games where players can run and play indefinitely, online poker tournaments begin at a predetermined time. Winning an online poker tournament might take luck and courage, but the ability to calculate and read people is a skill that most top players have too. 

Without properly designed sites, online poker tournaments would be nothing to write home about. That’s why we’ve curated the best sites for you to play and to get money in the bag. Let’s get into it!

PokerStars

PokerStars is regarded as the home of online poker events and is known as one of the best sites with the best tournament games.

With PokerStars, players are free to play weekly or at any convenient time. This online poker site offers an awesome variety of games, ranging from high limits to mixed games with many variants. Featuring outstanding graphics and game modes, PokerStars is a reliable and top-notch website.

The site also has different deposit and withdrawal methods to aid fast and seamless transactions. One feature that stands out in PokerStars online tournament payment method is the deposit limit. The site allows you to put restrictions on your weekly real-money deposit and provide a fast deposit and withdrawal method. 

Some of the major PokerStars tournaments are Sunday Million, Omania, Spin and Go Max, Women Sunday, Bounty Builders, and The Hot Turbos with many others for you to choose from! 

888 Poker

888 poker offers experienced players and state of art tournaments. The site offers a series of games and has high-quality functionality and 3D design. 

The multi-table tournaments offered are unmatched and have a broad range of buy-ins for as little as one cent. 

Party Poker

Party Poker uses interesting software to capture the attention of players. This, coupled with an amazing tournament schedule and convenient payment methods makes the site extremely popular.

The tournaments Party Poker offers range from daily legends to scheduled tournaments and tournament series. You get to choose what works best for you.

The site also gives the basic poker rules to guide you as you play. So, you don’t need to worry about missing out, even as a novice. 

What are you waiting for? 

Best Poker Tournaments 

You must be wondering what makes a good online poker tournament special. Well, that’s dependent on things like: 

• Number of people playing at the tournament
• Online tournament winnings
• Tournament challenge

Looking for the best poker online tournaments? Here are our favorites.

World Championship of Online Poker 

The WCOOP is one of the big online poker tournaments and is enjoyed by players all over the world. The World Championship of Online Poker began in the year 2002 and is currently one of the most popular online poker tournaments. 

World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker is one of the most anticipated poker tournaments in the world. Every year, the tournament allows winners to rise to stardom with whooping prizes, money and loads of amazing games. 

While it’s not a digital poker tournament yet, you can get similar games on poker sites like PokerStars. Either way, you can have fun and win lots of money too! 

World Poker Tour

Like the World Series of Poker, the World Poker Tour is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. They organize tournaments and have recently created a tournament for women only. 

How To Choose the Best Site for Your Poker Tournaments 

To play online poker effectively, it’s essential to choose reputable sites that’d offer you a fair game and the best odds. 

Here are the factors you should consider when choosing a poker site. 

Best Welcome Bonuses

Choosing an online poker site that offers excellent welcome bonuses will give your bankroll a nice boost. 

You should also look out for poker rakes. They limit your winnings because the higher the rake, the less money you’d make. Therefore, it’s important to choose online poker sites with low rakes. 

Banking Options

It’s important to scrutinize the available banking options before playing with an online poker site. Since some sites accept only a specific type of payment, you need to check if your preferred banking option is available for both deposits and withdrawals. 

Additionally, ensure that these payment methods are safe, secure and available in your country. 

Regulation and Licensing

To avoid getting caught up in nefarious business, you need to ensure that your preferred online site is registered and licensed with established, reputable regulatory agencies. 

Security and Safety 

It’s no news that unsafe online sites can leave you open to data theft and other cyber threats. 

However, using encrypted sites protects your data security and privacy. You should also go as far as checking reviews from previous players to get an idea of how the online poker site works and if it’s safe for you to play. 

Poker Tournaments FAQs

How old do I have to be to play in tournaments on online poker sites? 

You have to be 21 years or above to play on online poker sites

Is online poker allowed in the United States?

Yes, online poker sites are legal and allowed in the United States

Who regulates online poker sites?

There are a number of bodies that regulate online poker sites. One example is the Malta Gaming Authority

Are there online real-money poker tournaments?

Yes, there are online real-money poker tournaments available in different parts of the world.