How to Choose the Right Online Poker Tournament for You

Poker tournaments are an exciting way to play poker. The fields are huge, the gameplay is competitive, and the prizes are potentially life changing. For a lot of players, this is the most intense and engaging way to enjoy the game.

Tournaments come in all shapes and sizes. Fields can be small or large. Blinds can be fast or slow. Structures and payouts vary. It can all feel like a bit much. We’re here to break it all down and show you how to make the right choice for you.

Live versus online poker tournaments?

When it comes to live poker, the options around you are usually limited. Unless you live in a casino hotspot like Vegas, your local card room will likely run one or two Texas Hold’em poker tournaments per night alongside a couple of cash tables.

Your regular games will be based on what is available, unless you’re willing and able to travel far and wide to play, in which case you can find all kinds of poker tournaments and series.

Online poker offers a lot more choices. The lobbies will be full of scheduled tournaments running at all different stakes and with various structures. At Bodog Poker, for example, there are daily and weekly tournaments, including the $200k gtd event. Some of the tournaments also have a KO or PKO structure.

To maximize your experience, you’ll need to learn how to navigate these options and choose the right games for you.

Type of Poker

Your first choice is to pick the type of poker variation that you will play. Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular and widely available. For many players, it’s the poker game that strikes the perfect balance between chance, skill and strategy.

Texas Hold’em is the poker game that you’ll find at major live series such as the WSOP. You can learn more about Hold’em at the WSOP here.

If you want to stray from the mainstream, Omaha is another solid choice. Players are dealt four hole cards instead of two, so you’ll hit stronger hands more often, but so will your opponents. Omaha is a more complex game than Hold’em, so it’s recommended you gain experience in the latter first.

Other types of poker game include Stud, Five Card Draw, more unusual variations like Badugi and mixed games that include several variants in one tournament. These less popular types of poker are available regularly online.

The skill level tends to be lower in games other than Hold’em, as lots of people play who aren’t well versed in the game. This can give you an edge, if you put the effort into learning them yourself.

Choosing the Right Stakes

Choosing the right stakes is an important consideration that you shouldn’t ignore. You might want to play at the high stakes, but the question is are you ready? You’ll need both the bankroll and skill level to compete with tougher players.

If you’re taking poker seriously and want to play for the long term, you’ll need a bankroll that can sustain your run at the stakes you are playing. For poker tournaments, a recommended bankroll management strategy is to have 50-100 buy-ins for the stakes you want to play. So, if you want to play $1 tourneys, you should have a bankroll of at least $500.

Game speed

Game speed is a key consideration when choosing the right poker game for you. A poker game with a very slow and generous structure takes many hours to play out from start to finish. If you have the time and can stay focused, slow speed games offer a lot of bang for your buck. But they’re not for everyone.

Turbo poker tournaments have faster blind structures. The rising blinds force the action sooner, which makes these games shorter. An online turbo tournament will typically last around four to six hours depending on the field size. For many players, this is a comfortable amount of time to dedicate to the game.

Hyper turbos take this a step further with very fast blinds, just 2-3 minute levels in online tournaments. They offer the thrill of a tournament, yet are over in just a couple of short hours. You’ll get less deep stack play, but if you’re strapped for time this is a solid choice.

For anyone who has less time and wants to play poker tournaments in an hour or even just a few minutes, online platforms usually offer fast format sit and gos that start as soon as enough players join.

Tournament Special Formats

Tournaments have lots of features and formats to look out for. Here’s an overview:

● Freezeout or rebuys – Freezeout tournaments are perfect if you only want to fire one bullet. Rebuys allow you to have multiple entries so you can go again if you lose your stack.
● KO/PKO – Knockout tournaments award prizes for eliminating other players from the tournament. In PKOs, these prizes grow as the game progresses.
● Satellite tournaments – In satellite tournaments, the prizes are usually entry into a higher cost tournament. It’s the perfect way to take a shot without busting the bankroll.
● Shootout tournaments – In shootouts, the aim is to win a single table outright to move on to the next table and advance to the next round.

Key Factors to Consider

By now, you should have a fair idea of the tournaments that are available to you. Test out some of the games to see which ones you enjoy and always stay within your bankroll. Here’s a quick checklist of key factors to consider when picking a poker tournament:

● Bankroll and stakes
● Experience and skill level
● Time commitments
● Risk tolerance and variance
● Playing style
● Poker goals