Online Poker 101: Crash Course on Tourney Types at Bodog
by Bodog Poker | Jul 28 2009
Online poker action began, for the most part, with
limit holdem players playing cash games of different blind levels. Poker has evolved in many ways over the last six years, and now most of the online action is played in the form of tournaments. These tourneys come in many forms, and choosing the right type for you will increase your chances of having some success.
Bodog Poker offers their players a wide array of tourney types to choose from, and I'll look at the different variations and advantages of each.
Multi-table tournaments consist of many players, anywhere from 40 to thousands of entrants who play down until one player has all the chips. All the entry money is pooled and the players that last the longest earn money based on how deep they place. Multi-table tournaments come in many forms that include "qualifiers" or "satellites", "Guaranteed tourneys", "re-buy events", "freerolls" and regular buy-in tourneys.
Multi-table tournaments require a fixed amount of your time to play. Depending on the size of the tourney, some can last in excess of six or seven hours. You'll want to make sure that you have the time to play that long. Many players will play numerous multi-table tourneys at once. Becoming proficient at MTT's is how most young internet millionaires are making their online fortunes today. Bodog promotional tournaments like the
Bodog Flight Club and the
Poker Mini Series are all MTT's, and let's not forget the weekly $100K Guaranteed event.
If your schedule rarely permits you to dedicate six hours of your time to play a
poker tournament, you can play a sit-and-go tournament instead. These events are small tournaments that consist of one to three tables of players playing for a smaller prize pool. Usually at a single table sit-and-go tourney only the top two or three players win money. They don't take hours to finish, and most last between 15 and 45 minutes to play out. Like MTT's, sit-and-go tourneys come in many forms and buy-in levels. Find the level that best fits your bankroll (the buy-in should not be more than 5-10% of it).
A new form of sit-and-go tournaments that's growing in popularity is the turbo and super turbo tourney. These ones have an elevated blind structure that forces the action and makes players play an aggressive style. Online players tend to enjoy faster action, and these events provide all the fireworks they could desire. This type of sit-and-go is popular with new players because play often involves lots of all-in bets pre-flop or on the flop. Players with little playing experience enjoy them because the playing field is leveled with the skilled players due to the forced action.
Bodog even offers free tourney action to players who collect enough player points. They offer daily tourneys of various degrees that can be turned into a bankroll or a WSOP bracelet. They vary in size, and the more player points you collect the bigger the action you can get in on.
