A Look At Online Poker Tournaments
By Matthew Winnington, Sat Dec 10th

Over the course of the past ten years, a significant number ofmen and women have become actively involved in all types ofonline gaming, and is certainly no exception. In fact,with poker's recent rise in popularity - hundreds of thousandsof people from the world over involve themselves in Internetbased tournaments each and every year, and the numbers arequickly growing.

To some, the very concept of entering a "tournament" may seemintimidating, but they aren't just for the aspiring cardprofessional. These days there are players of all skill levelsparticipating on the tables, and entry fees as low as a coupleof dollars.

What Are Online Tournaments?

There are not a lot of significant differences between pokertournaments played in cyberspace and those conducted in thebrick and mortar world. The obvious difference is when playingin an online game your opponents are not physically seatednext to you. Asides from that, the rules and betting structuresare normally the same.

Tournaments of all types and sizes are available for onlinepatrons to enter, from single table "pick up" games to massivemulti-table events.

Single table tournaments are not unlike what many people arealready accustomed to playing on a Saturday night at home withfriends - 6, 8 or 10 players at one table, with the top 2 or 3places dividing the prize money. At just about any online pokerroom these pick up games run all day long, commencingimmediately once a table is filled, and opening a new table toseat the next set of players.

Multi-table tournaments can be comprised of as few as twotables, but it is not uncommon for a larger online tournament toattract thousands of entrants. In theory, due to today's moderncomputer and communications technology, it is possible for anonline tournament to have literally an unlimited number ofentrants, as there are no physical limitations to the number oftables they can use.

Games Played at Online Tournaments

In this day and age, nearly any type of game can be foundplayed at one venue or another. While the increasinglypopular Texas Hold 'Em remains a favorite for large-scaleevents, there are other types of games that have becomeincreasingly popular in the online tournament scene inrecent years; including 7-Card Stud, Omaha, and their Hi/Lo(split pot) counterparts.

Tournament Buy-Ins

Online rooms have the financial advantage of no spaceconstraints and electronic dealers, which allows them to offermuch more flexibility when it comes to how low tournamentbuy-ins can go. For new players or those on a budget, there areentry fees as low as a dollar at some venues, and in some cases,even free tournaments with real prizes for new players (commonlyreferred to as "freerolls").

On the other side, for more experienced players and those whoprefer higher stakes action, single table buy-ins can go as highas $500 at some places, and direct buy-ins for largermulti-table events often run into the hundreds as well. Mostonline tournament operators charge an administrative fee of 10%that is added to the buy-in. A $10 tournament for example, wouldcost a player $11 in total to enter ($10 + $1). This 10% iswhere the house gets its profit, with the remainder of the moneygoing towards the prize pool for winning players.

Satellites and Super-Satellites

Some larger tournaments may offer as much as millions of dollarsin prizes, which requires large entry fees from it'sparticipants in order to fund. In some instances, organizers ofthese events will utilize a series of "satellites" and"super satellites" as part of the tournament structure to allowplayers a chance to work their way up to the main event withoutthe expense of a direct buy-in.

Satellites are essentially inexpensive tournaments, thewinners from which advance to either a super-satellite

Pair of paintings of dogs playing poker fetches $590,000 in auction
The two works -- A Bold Bluff and Waterloo -- were among 16 paintings that artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge...
Pokie king could come up trumps
NOT one to sit still, 81-year-old Sydney pokie baron Len Ainsworth wants to sell his business to Russian casino magnate...
Original Bark Deco going on sale
If popularity were a true measure of worth, then the two paintings being auctioned off Tuesday would be worth millions...
He's all in
The Summit Rotary Club hosts the Summit Showdown Poker Tournament Saturday at the...
SunPoker.com Shines On CNN
SunPoker.com has just signed a deal to be one of the first poker rooms to be included on the interactive cable channel...
Taking a career gamble on Hold'em
In the past 24 hours, around $180-million was bet in online poker rooms worldwide, and...
The online poker industry is red-hot
AngelCity Entertainment, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: AGCI - News), an online casino software company, announced today that it had a net handle of over $...
Poker deals winning hand to promoters
Absorbed with managing the explosive success of their 11-month-old Amateur Poker League, the young entrepreneurs spent...
Muscular Dystrophy Hold'em Tournament Postponed Over Legality
A charity poker tournament, scheduled to take place today in Rochester, NY, has been postponed due to concerns over the event's legality...
Building an online Las Vegas is lucrative, but comes with political risks in the US
The appointment ofbanking advisers to explore"strategic options" at PartyGaming,a little-known Gibraltar-based company formerly known as...

(seebelow) or directly into the main tournament event. These arealso occasionally referenced as 'qualifiers'.

Similarly, a super-satellite is a higher-priced version of asatellite tourney - not as expensive to enter as a directbuy-in, but with a higher entry fee than a regular satellite.Winners advance onto the main tournament event with fees paid,and will also often receive cash prizes as well.

In conclusion, whether you're just looking for a fun way tochallenge your amateur skills or aspiring to be the next WorldSeries Of champion, online tournaments can provide anylevel of player with a fun experience at a price to suitany budget, perhaps of even winning a bit of money along theway. Definitely not just for the pros anymore.

About the author:A regular tournament player who contributes to sites dealingwith a variety of games both online and off, visitMatthew's site at http://www.playrealpokeronline.com for thelatest news and articles on America's favorite card game.