Overview of Typical Poker Tournament Rules
Each and every day more and more men and women are drawn to
playing online poker. Many of these people eventually end up
interested in participating in one or another of the various
online poker tournaments that can be found on the Internet at
any given point in time. There is a wide array of different
poker tournaments on the Net that a person can to participate in
at any point in time.
Before you charge off and sign up for an online poker tourney,
you should have at least a basic understanding of some of the
general rules and practices associated with online poker
tournaments. Of course, there are some similarities between the
rules and practices associated with poker in cyberspace and
poker in the "real world."
In any event, what follows is a brief overview of what you can
expect in the way or rules, practices and procedures as the same
pertain to online poker tournaments in this day and age.
Basic Rules of Online Poker Tournaments:
Naturally, like in the brick and mortar world, each individual
poker tournament can adopt its own set of rules. Thus, there is
often at least a degree of variation between the rules at one or
another of the different online poker tournaments that a person
might find on the World Wide Web. With that said, there are some
rules and regulations that are standard to the majority of all
poker tournaments that are played on the Net or off.
First, all participants in an online poker tournament will start
play at the same time. There are no staggered of "shotgun"
starts such as might be found in other types of competitive
tournament play.
Second, each player in an online poker tournament will begin
play with the same number of chips. As the chips are depleted,
some tournaments to allow participants the ability to buy more
chips up to the amount that they started with in the first
instance. (This is done through the re-buy or add-on process.)
Third, the tournament ante or bid level increases at regular
intervals throughout the competition itself. In some tournaments
the ante or bid level will increase based on the passing of a
specified amount of time. In single table tournaments, the ante
or bid level may increase after the passage of a specified
number of play periods.
Fourth, a player is able to continue playing in a given
tournament until he or she completely runs out of chips. The
player left standing, the player who is the last in possession
of chips, is declared the winner of the online poker tournament.
Prizes and Winnings
Once the ultimate winner of an online poker tournament has been
determined, the prize money will be distributed according to the
rules of the competition. As has been mentioned previously, each
online poker tournament does establish its own rules. And, as
has also been mentioned previously in this article, there are
some general rules and procedures that can be found in nearly
all Internet based poker tournaments.
The very top winner out of all of the participants in a given
online poker tournament will garner the bulk of the prize money.
In most cases, when it comes to an online poker tournament, the
first place winner will get about 40% of the purse, 40% of the
prize money in the competition.
As a general practice in online poker tournaments the second
place winner will get about 20% of the available prize money.
The third place winner will receive about 10% of the available
prize money.
In some instances, an online poker tournament will offer other
types of prizes. As an example, in a satellite tournament -
where a person is playing in order to gain the right to play in
a more major tournament - the prize itself may be entry into the
more major tournament, entrance fee being included.
If you are interested in participating in an online poker
tournament, it is in your best interests to take the time to
consider the rules and regulations of that tournament before you
actually sign up. By familiarizing yourself with these rules,
regulations and practices before a tournament, you will be in a
sound position of knowing what to expect during the course of
the tournament itself.