GGPOKER

Poker’s variety is one of its primary reasons for its popularity. It is endlessly replayable since every game is different, and if you don’t like one form of poker, you can keep trying new ones until you find the perfect one. Common choices in poker include Hold’em vs. Omaha or tournaments vs. cash games. We want to help you choose what is best for you, so this beginners poker guide will look at poker tournaments. We will explain what they are, how they work, and the various types of tournaments, from multi-table tournaments to sit-and-goes.

Understanding Tournament Poker vs. Cash Games

Before diving into tournament formats, it’s essential to understand how poker tournaments differ from traditional cash games and other poker variants. In cash games, players can buy in for varying amounts within betting limits, and chips represent real money that can be cashed out at any time. Poker tournaments operate differently—your buy-in gets you a fixed starting stack, and those chips only have value within the tournament structure itself.

The strategy in tournaments also shifts dramatically as play progresses. Understanding hand rankings becomes even more critical since you typically can’t rebuy chips freely in freezeout formats, though many modern tournaments do allow re-entries during a limited registration window. Premium poker hands like royal flush, straight flush, and full house take on added significance in tournament settings, while playing hands like one pair or two pair requires careful consideration of your stack size relative to the blinds. Many players who excel at cash games struggle initially with tournament poker because the changing dynamics require constant adaptation.

Single-Table and Multi-Table Tournaments

Cash games are played continuously, with participants free to leave and join between games. Tournaments are not like this. In a typical tournament, the participants play poker until one person has all the chips. That person wins, taking the largest share of the prize pool. The rest of the prize pool is divided amongst the highest finishing players depending on when they are knocked out, with many entrants not getting money.

Unlike in a cash game where you have minimum and maximum buy-in sizes, a tournament buy-in is fixed, meaning everyone has the same starting stack size. To help speed up elimination, blinds steadily increase throughout the tournament, and more forced bets, known as antes, are often introduced. Most modern tournaments use a big blind ante, where the player in the big blind posts one ante for the entire table rather than each player posting individually. This speeds up play and eliminates confusion about who has posted their ante. As each betting round progresses, players must decide whether to call, raise, or fold based on their hand strength and position at the table.

Just like it sounds, single-table tournaments are only played on one table and typically support up to nine or ten players, though six-max and heads-up formats are also common. Multi-table tournaments are the more common poker tournament format, allowing you to host large events with potentially thousands of participants. Players are separated into many tables, which all play simultaneously, and as players are eliminated, fewer tables are used. When everyone is seated at one table, it is known as the “final” table, and the tournament is played until its conclusion.

Texas Hold’em and Omaha Tournament Formats

Most poker tournaments feature Texas Hold’em as the primary poker variant, though Omaha tournaments have grown significantly in popularity, especially in online poker. In Texas Hold’em tournaments, each player receives two hole cards face down, and five community cards are dealt face up on the table through multiple betting rounds. The dealer deals the community cards in stages—three cards (the flop), one card (the turn), and one final card (the river)—with a betting round after each stage. Players must make the best hand using any combination of their hole cards and the community cards.

Omaha poker tournaments follow a similar structure but with key differences—players receive four cards instead of two, and must use exactly two hole cards combined with three community cards to form their winning hand. Like Hold’em, Omaha has the same four betting rounds (preflop, flop, turn, river), but the additional cards create closer hand equities and more drawing opportunities, which typically generates more action and larger pots compared to Texas Hold’em. Both variants are considered community card poker games, where shared cards on the table create opportunities for dramatic confrontations and strategic play.

Understanding the basic rules of these poker games is crucial before entering tournaments, as the fast-paced nature and increasing blinds leave little room for learning on the fly. Whether you’re playing Texas Hold’em or Omaha, knowing when you have the best hand versus when opponents might hold a stronger poker hand is essential for tournament success. For those looking to learn the fundamentals, basic poker strategy tips can provide a solid foundation.

Freezeouts, Rebuys, and Reentries

Tournaments can be further categorized depending on what happens when you lose all your chips. The most popular format is the freezeout. When your chips run out, you are eliminated and can’t rejoin the tournament. Some tournaments offer rebuys within a specified time window, close to the beginning of the tournament. You can buy back in when you fall below a certain amount of chips (often when at or below your starting stack), usually paying the price of the original entry fee again. You will then be able to continue playing with a chip amount equal to what you started with. Many rebuy tournaments also offer an add-on at the first break, allowing all players to purchase additional chips regardless of their stack size.

Re-entries are a variation of rebuys, in which you must be eliminated before you are able to buy back in. After paying, you will be reseated at another table with the starting amount of chips, as if you had just entered the tournament anew. Most modern tournaments allow multiple re-entries during a late registration period, which can last anywhere from the first few levels to several hours into the event.

The strategy for rebuy tournaments differs significantly from freezeouts. Players often play more aggressively early, knowing they can rebuy if they lose a big pot. This affects how you should evaluate your poker hand strength and when to fold versus when to commit your chips. Understanding pot odds and implied odds becomes crucial when deciding whether to chase a draw or fold to pressure from other players. Additionally, tournament decisions are heavily influenced by ICM (Independent Chip Model)—the concept that chips won are worth less than chips lost, especially near pay jumps, which often causes ranges to tighten at the bubble and adjust based on stack sizes at the table.

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Sit-and-Go Tournaments

We did say most tournaments aren’t like cash games, but Sit-and-Goes offer an on-demand tournament experience without fixed start times.

Traditional tournaments are scheduled to begin at a particular time. This can be frustrating as it requires you to schedule a large block of your time on the tournament day and you never know how long you’re going to be playing.

Sit-and-Goes, as the name implies, allow you to just sit down and once the table is full, you play. They don’t have a fixed start time—entrants sign up, and the tournament starts when there are enough people to play. Sit-and-Goes are typically single-table, though there are some small multi-table sit-and-goes online.

For players new to playing online poker, sit-and-goes offer an ideal starting point. These poker games typically last anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour depending on the structure (regular, turbo, or hyper-turbo) and table size, making them flexible for fitting into your schedule. Online poker sites offer sit-and-goes around the clock at various betting limits—primarily no-limit Hold’em and pot-limit Omaha, though other variants exist—accommodating players at every stake level from micro-stakes to high roller tables.

Turbo Tournaments

For many people, tournaments can be almost aggravatingly slow-paced, especially with many players. Turbo tournaments aim to solve this by increasing the blind levels at a faster rate than your regular tournament. These faster structures are available in both sit-and-go and multi-table tournament formats.

There are also further variations on turbo tournaments, known as ‘super turbo’ or ‘hyper’ tournaments. The blinds increase significantly faster and these formats are most commonly found online, though some live venues also spread hyper-turbo events.

The accelerated structure of turbo tournaments demands adjusted strategy. With the big blind and small blind increasing rapidly, stacks get shallow quickly relative to the blinds. This means you’ll need to widen your push/fold ranges rather than tighten up—being willing to commit your chips with a broader range of hands before your stack becomes too short. Position becomes even more critical, as players in late position relative to the dealer button have a significant advantage when stealing blinds or defending against aggressive opponents. Mastering short-stack play and understanding optimal push/fold ranges is essential for success in turbo formats.

Satellite Tournaments

A Satellite Tournament is a special kind of tournament that serves as a qualifier for more significant events. The prize pool usually does not pay out in real money but, instead, one or more entries to a tournament with a larger entry fee. Some satellites still give cash to those who fall short of the main prize. Flash satellites offer an even quicker way to win tournament seats with ultra-fast structures.

Since the top prizes are usually an entry into the same, bigger tournament, satellites do not need to be played to completion if they offer more than one entry. If a satellite offers five entries, there is no need to continue playing when only five players remain. They all receive the same prize, so play often continues hand-for-hand until the exact number of seats is awarded, then the tournament ends.

Many large tournaments host satellites, typically online, including the prestigious World Series of Poker (WSOP). These satellites give players the chance to win entries to events with buy-ins ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars for a fraction of the cost. The World Series satellite structure has created countless success stories and remains one of the most popular ways for amateur players to compete against the best in the world.

Online satellites are a large part of the WSOP’s recent history, thanks to Chris Moneymaker. In 2003, after winning a satellite tournament, he won a seat in the $10,000 WSOP main event. Despite being an amateur who was new to live tournaments, he went against all odds and won the main event, proving that anyone can make it big if they have what it takes.

Getting Started with Tournament Poker

Whether you’re interested in playing online or live tournaments, understanding these different formats will help you choose the right poker games for your skill level and schedule. Start with smaller buy-in sit-and-goes to build your tournament experience, then gradually work your way up to larger multi-table tournaments as your strategy and bankroll grow. GGPoker offers a wide variety of tournament formats to suit players of all levels.

Remember that success in poker tournaments requires adapting your play based on factors like stack size, table position, the dealer button location, and how other players are betting. Study hand rankings thoroughly, practice reading community cards to identify potential winning hands, and learn when aggressive bets make sense versus when to fold and preserve your chips for better spots. Pay attention to your opponents—observing whether they play tight or loose, how they react to different bet sizes, and their tendencies in various positions at the table will give you crucial edges.

The world of tournament poker offers something for everyone—from quick turbo sit-and-goes to marathon multi-table events with life-changing prize pools. Find your preferred format and start building your tournament poker skills today.