7 Best Poker Tournament Formats in 2021: Overview

Poker is an intellectual game that becomes more and more popular every year. Poker tournaments are of particular interest to players. How the competitions are organized and how the prize money is distributed? Learn details from the article.

Key rules of the poker tournament: Insights for beginners

The main goal of any game is to win and get a prize. To join a poker competition, it is not enough just to register, you must make a buy-in – an entry fee, which is paid by the participant in the game. The prize fund is formed from the funds deposited by each poker player.

The amount of the contribution is set in advance by the organizers and includes a rake. As a rule, rake is determined as follows: $200 + $20. This means that $200 will go to the prize pool, and the poker room will take $20 as a rake.

In the course of the game, the weakest participants are eliminated, the professionals move on. There is only one winner in the final who takes home the main prize.

Often, the bulk of the prize money goes to those poker players who are the closest to the final table. A significant part of the players are eliminated without receiving any financial incentives.

Interestingly, the sizes of the blinds, i.e. the mandatory bets are constantly increasing. Depending on the type of tournament, the interval for increasing the level of blinds is predetermined: the period of time can range from a few minutes to two hours.

Popular poker tournament formats: Overview

Poker is a multifaceted and exciting game, hence the many options for competitions. Next, we will consider only the most well-known formats to make it easier for beginners.

Bounty, or knockout tournament means to knock an opponent out of the game. In addition to the main prize pool, which is formed from the same entry fees, poker players can count on additional cash rewards for each participant who leaves the tournament. Due to the specifics of the game, the strategy is constantly changing. All-in actions are used more often.

Shootout. This format is somewhat similar to the bounty, but the elimination of participants takes place in stages. At the beginning of the competition, a certain number of players sit at the tables. They play until there is one poker player at each table left – the winner. Further, the remaining participants (winners of the previous round) move to new tables. The game ends with the final table.

Satellite is one of the most popular competition format. Instead of a cash prize, participants have the opportunity to win a ticket to a more important and large event, such as a tournament with an impressive buy-in. Note that satellites are held both in single-table matches and in multi-table-tournament.

Spin & Go is taking place in an intensive mode. The main feature of such tournaments is the flexibility of the prize money: the participant can pick up a double buy-in or a huge jackpot, ten times the size of the entry fee. In addition, here the blind levels that the player makes before the cards are dealt increase very quickly. The final prize goes to one winner only.

Double or Nothing – the game ends exactly at the moment when half of the registered poker players are left. The champions receive a double buy-in prize, the rest of the participants leave empty-handed.

Freerolls – participation in this format is absolutely free, there is no minimum buy-in or entry fee, but there is a real opportunity to win money. This option is great for beginners, since the level of the game is higher than at practice tables.

Rebuy – during the match, players have the right to buy additional chips. Unlike the usual rivalry, where the poker player is eliminated from the game, here there is an opportunity to buy additional chips. Although, with some restrictions, for example, on the number or total amount of rebuys.

Summary

The poker world is so diverse that players always have a choice. Various gambling platforms try to attract as many users as possible, therefore they offer the most exciting options and formats of competitions. Some of them get a good response from the audience, while the rest are fading from the gaming arena.