How To Play Tournament Poker

All poker tournaments have a beginning, middle and late stage. However, many players simply play each stage the same way. As a rule of thumb, you should play the late stages of the tournament much more aggressively than the early ones. One big reason for this is that the blinds are at their smallest at the start. In order to enter a tournament, all players must register at the Borgata Poker Cage for the event. Players need to have a valid ID and an M life card. Players pay a pre-determined amount consisting of the buy-in and the entry fee. To get started, select ‘ KO Poker ’ tab in the main game lobby. Choose between ‘Sit&KO’ and ‘KO Tournaments’ via the available tabs, then your game type, buy-in and game speed. When you’re ready, click the ‘ Register ’ button, and start to KO the competition! For more details, follow the instructions below (desktop only). All poker sites have a calendar that features also much quicker online tournaments where you can have fun and win meaningful sums. These are the top sites to play online poker tournaments in 2020.

Have you ever wanted to play poker just like professionals do?

Then you will have to play at the tables they play. And we mean that you will have to play well.

Not average but at the top of your ability.

But before you do you, there are some other things that you will have to do. The first of those things is that you must find out how to play a poker tournament?

We will start with the simplest of things including:

Basic Poker Rules

We have talked about the rules of poker many times before but as the saying goes “repetition is the mother of all learning”, and when it comes to gambling especially then you will have to swear by this and make it a rule in your books.

Since most Poker tournaments revolve around Texas Hold’em, then this is going to be the variation we will be referring to at all times.

Poker is easy to learn but hard to master.

If you want to learn it well, then you must follow whatever the professionals say. So we as professionals are here to help you.

So how is the game played?

#1 The number one thing you must know about poker is how the players are laid out around the table.

For a game to begin, there must be at least two players. In the case of tournaments, anything from 5-10 players is eligible. You may get to see one to one knockout rounds from time to time though.

#2 When the round begins each of the players is dealt a couple of face-down cards. Those can be seen by the player only.

There are other cards that you can use to make up the best possible combination in your power, but this much depends on the five face-up cards that the dealer puts down for everybody to see.

Those are divided into the flop (first three cards), the turn (fourth card) and the river which is the fifth and final card to get put down.

#3 Depending on how strong the best possible combination between your hand and the five cards put down you may win or lose the current hand.

But this depends on various things like whether you will make the other players go all the way to the river or fold and let you win without going into the risk of calling your bet or raise.

Those possible hands are (sorted from worst to best):

• High Card = when no one has at least a single pair then the person/s with the strongest card wins. Cards in order of descending power are A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
• One pair = have a combination of two same numbers like two 7s, two 10s and so on.
• Two pairs = have two same combinations like both two 3s and 5s.
• Three of a kind = have a combination of three same numbers like three Qs.
• Straight = have five numbers in a row like 4-5-6-7-8 or anything of that sort.
• Flush = have five numbers of the same suit but not of the same colour, like an A-3-5-7-9 all of which are clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds.
• Full house = have three of a kind and another pair like 4-4-4-5-5.
• Four of a kind = have a combination of four same numbers like four Qs.
• Straight Flush = When you have a straight which is a flush at the same time like 5-6-7-8-9 all of them being of the same suit.
• Royal Flush = the most powerful possible hand you can have in Texas Hold’em which is a straight flush of 10-J-Q-K-A.

The actions a player can perform are:

• Call: place the necessary chips in play (small/big blind players have to call half the needed amount remaining or check)
• Check: proceed with the current amount bet without raising, folding etc.
• Bet or raise: Put more money in the pot or call and then bet again
• Fold: Give up your hand and leave the current hand
• All in: Bet all your available chips

Read more in our guide on How To Play Poker Online.

How Po Play a Poker Tournament?

Taking part in a tournament isn’t as tricky as you would think.

Most of the times you won’t need credentials or any significant wins on your record to gain access.

Before you can enter a poker tournament, you are either going to purchase a seat (commonly referred to as a buy-in) or get access entirely for free.

As expected, Freeroll tournaments(the second kind) attract most of the players because you wouldn’t have to risk any money to enter them. The prize money is relatively smaller though.

The ones requiring a buy-in offer way higher prize pools, BUT you go into the risk of losing it all if you get disqualified. If you are lucky enough, you can earn money without even coming first. Many times all top three places win a reward.

This depends of course on what type of tournament you are participating in.

If for example, you are participating in a multi-table tournament, then you most likely will get prizes even if you reach the final table.

If you are playing single table tournaments, then the chances are that only the one single player remaining in play will get a prize.

The rules of the game remain the same, and the only things that can change are the blinds which will increase over time so that the tournament can end relatively quickly and not take many hours.

The other thing that can change is the prize but only in the case you are playing in a Jackpot tournament (technically not a tournament as it takes just a few minutes). Or a shared prize pool one where the prize depends on the amount of money each player uses as a buy-in (only applicable in the tournaments where each player can buy in with as many chips as he pleases).

Read more in our guide How To Join a Poker Tournament.

Good Poker Tournaments To Join

There are plenty of good choices like the Poker rooms offered on the platforms provided by the Best Partners network.

These are Bovadafor US citizens, Bodogfor Canadians and Ignitionfor the European gamblers.

All of those provide both classic and Freeroll tournaments. Those sites are great since you can also use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for example so if you want to keep your full anonymity while gambling online.

If you want to play on an esteemed and globally renowned platform, then you could always download the Pokerstars Poker Client for free.

Read more in our guide to The Best Online Casinos.

The Best Tactics

When it comes to poker, we always give the same piece of advice but since we are talking about how to play poker tournaments, we have two for you:

Standard Poker Tournament

In case you are playing a standard tournament try going in only when you have at least a pair of 9’s or better at the pre-flop stage.

If you are still having just one pair after the flop, unless that is a really good one like a pocket (one pair of) A’s or K’s don’t go in.

You may even have two of the same suit. If that’s the case only go in if you are four-fifths of the way in a possible Flush, the same goes for a Straight.

Jackpot Poker Tournament

If you are playing a Jackpot tournament, where time is of the essence, you will have to adjust your play accordingly.

Instead of folding all the time do the exact opposite.

Play as aggressively as possible. Don’t let your opponents any breathing space.

This way you are going to push them into making bad decisions and chances are that you will be the one taking the prize.

Just so you know, in that kind of “tournaments” there are usually only three players. That is you and two opponents.

Overall

So now that you know how to play a poker tournament, you must be all set to become a professional poker player.

If you want to keep learning new things about online poker each week, then make sure that you follow our website.

That being said the only thing left for you to do now is to visit an online poker room, sign up for some of the available tournaments and start winning some money.

Read our guide to The Best Bitcoin Poker Tournaments.

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Small stakes online poker tournaments are fantastic fun. They can be frustrating at times — I'll give you that — but for the most part, it is difficult not to enjoy yourself while competing in one.

They are also potentially lucrative beasts, not least because they tend to attract players in droves.

On some sites — in particular GGPoker and partypoker — tournaments with buy-ins as small as $1-$10 may see several thousand hopefuls take to the virtual felt in the hope of turning their tiny investments into much more meaningful sums.

As you can imagine, the majority of these huge fields are populated with recreational players and therefore the standard of play is, as a rule, very poor.

That's not to say navigating your way through the crowds and winning one of these things is an easy task, because it isn't.

In other words, don't think you're going to deposit $200 online, play a bunch of these online poker tournaments, and suddenly be rolling in cash like Scrooge McDuck in Ducktails.

It's not going to happen.

What is going to happen, or what should happen, is that you continue reading this article — and others you find in the Strategy section — and once you've armed yourself with the weapons of knowledge, you go out there and apply that learning to do more than just enjoy these tournaments, but to profit from them as well.

Here are five tips designed to help you both prepare for and find success in small stakes online tourneys.

1. Be Prepared for a Long Session

Most of these low buy-in, big field tournaments take several hours to complete, so you need to be prepared to play for a long time.

Be patient as always, but also be ready for a lengthy grind should you go deep in the event.

I've been fortunate enough to chop the $3.30 rebuy on PokerStars twice. On both occasions, the tournament started at around 7:00 p.m and we finished at 6:30 a.m.

This is all well and good if you are a poker pro who can sleep the next day, but you have to take into consideration work commitments if you have a job.

Know what you're potentially getting yourself into when registering for these events.

This tip to beat online poke tournaments does not apply only to low-stake events. As you can see on our Sunday Million strategy guide, also pros like Arlie Shaban and Felix Schneiders advise all players to master the art of being patient.

That said, not every tournament is a 12-hour commitment. All poker sites have a calendar that features also much quicker online tournaments where you can have fun and win meaningful sums.

These are the top sites to play online poker tournaments in 2020:

2. Be Prepared For Some Crazy Swings

How To Play Poker For Beginners

The variance in small stakes poker tournaments is huge because of the sheer number of opponents you have to get through and the fact many of these opponents can be nearly impossible to put on a hand.

Also of significance when playing against a large field full of recreational players is the possibility of players calling your raises — even your all-in ones — with some ridiculous holdings, adding further to the unpredictability of outcomes.

While this situation is very favorable in the long run, over the short term you can often find yourself running worse than you ever thought possible.

How To Play Good Tournament Poker

Make sure therefore you have an ample bankroll to fall back on when times are hard — something in the range of 200-300 times of your average buy-in (I'd recommend).

How To Play Tournament Texas Hold'em Poker

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How To Play Online Poker Tournament

3. Keep it Simple and Value Bet Your Hands to the Max

DO NOT try to run an elaborate bluff at any stage of the tournament because it will only lead to tears of sorrow.

A lot of your opponents only care what cards they have in their hand and won't realize from your actions that you're representing a specific hand — they just want to get to showdown and hopefully win.

More often than not in these events you will want to keep matters simple, playing 'ABC poker' and letting the cards fall how they will.

How To Play Poker Online

Along the same lines, make sure you get the maximum value from your made hands.

Higher-stakes tournament grinders may routinely fire 1/3 pot-sized bets at their opponents, but that's because it is more difficult to get paid off at those stakes.

At the lower end of the spectrum, you can get away with betting more. Because so many of your opponents will love to call your bets, you may as well take advantage with your strong holdings.

4. Listen to the Betting / Prepare to Lay Down Some Big Hands

How often have you heard poker players bemoan their luck and come out with some rubbish such as 'I can't beat these donkeys, they always hit the nuts on the river.'

What they don't tell you is that 'these donkeys' often play their hands in a manner that allows you to get away from pots should you need to.

For example, if a weak player has limp-called preflop, called the flop, called on the turn, and then leads into you on the river when the flush comes in, guess what?

That player almost certainly has the flush.

The same is often true for raises on the river. Even if the only hand that beats you is , if an obviously weak player raises you on the river, you have to consider that he or she probably has !

5. Don't Worry About Playing a 'Balanced Style'

If someone tells you that you have to play a 'balanced style' of poker in large-field small stakes poker tournaments, laugh and walk away.

While you have to do this higher up the poker food chain, you are highly unlikely to come up against the same players ever again in a field of 3,000-10,000 foes, so you can be as unbalanced as you wish.

That means not worrying so much about not revealing certain patterns with your play, such as always betting big with strong hands.

While against stronger opponents you should balance your play by varying your bets and actions so as not to be read so easily, against large fields of less skilled opponents this isn't as great of a concern.

Obviously, the five tips above are not all you need to be successful in small stakes online tourneys, but they should at least help you in your quest to turn a little into a lot!

WHAT NEXT? Check out the best real money poker games to play in 2020!

How To Play Poker Better

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How To Play Tournament Poker

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