Tournament Poker: What Is a Poker Tournament?

All players enter a tournament for the same amount of money, called the buy-in. In addition, the poker room or casino charges an entry fee to all players entering the tournament.

If the buy-in is $100 the house might take an extra $10, which means that the actual amount paid by the player is $110. If there are 100 players, the total prize pool will be 100 x $100 = $10,000. The payout structure depends on the tournament, but usually there is a prize for approximately every 10 players. In this case, it might be 30% for first place, followed by 20%, 13%, 10%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, and 2% respectively, thus making for 10 prizes in total.

All players start out with an equal amount of chips and, as the tournament progresses, the stakes are typically raised every 15-60 minutes. The number of chips players begin with, the stakes and the time periods determine whether it is a fast or slow Hold'em tournament.

Good players generally prefer slow tournaments where you start out with a lot of chips (as compared to the stakes) and where the time periods are long. This structure gives the better player a greater opportunity of outplaying their opponents before the stakes become so high that they are forced to "gamble" too much. If you prefer quick tournaments, try a sit-and-go tournament with a limited number of players.

If there are 100 players in the tournament they will usually start by playing 10-handed at 10 tables. As players go broke they are eliminated (unless it is a re-buy tournament, where a player has the option of buying in again during a specified time period). Once players are eliminated, other players are relocated as tables are broken up and reconfigured.

For example, if there are 10 players on one table and eight players on two other tables, two players from the 10-handed table will move to the eight-handed tables, thus making all three tables nine-handed. The tournament ends when one player has all the chips.

Though placing first in a poker tournament is largely reliant on luck, as in all forms of poker skill plays a major role in long-term success. It is not a coincidence that you repeatedly see the same names of top players in the money.

For example, in the WSOP World Championship event, the late Stu Ungar won three times, Johnny Chan has won back-to-back titles and finished second once, Doyle Brunson won it twice and made the final table several times, and T.J. Cloutier has finished second twice and made several final tables.

Again, in order to win a tournament you have to get lucky, but to place in the money (and occasionally finish in first place) on a regular basis you must be a skilled player.