Poker Tournament Types
Single Table Sit & Go Tournament
The tournament is opened and begins as soon as the required amount of players have signed up for it.
The amount of players depends on your Online Poker Provider. For example: At Pokerroom or Everest Poker) a Sit & Go is played with 10 players but at (Pokerstars.comor Full Tilt Poker 9 Players are at a table at the beginning of the Sit & Go.
The last 3 Players remaining in the tournament divide the prize money, the winner of course getting more cash than the third and second place finishers. Playing for small stakes (10 + 1$ and lower), you seldom have to wait longer than 2 Minutes for the Sit & Go to start.
If you are interested in Sit & Go Strategy then see read the following article: Strategical Advice for Sit & Go Poker Tournaments
Multi Table Sit & Go Tournament
Most Online Poker Providers also offer Multi Table Sit & Gos. Pokerroom for instance offers Multitable Sit & Go Tournaments with 20 or 30 players, too. The tournament with 20 Players cashes out the best 4 players, with 30 players the best 5 Players get a share of the prize money.
If you want to get an idea of the big 'scheduled tournaments' without battling against over 500 opponents, then Full Tilt Poker is the right provider for you. Full Tilt Poker offers Sit & G0 tournaments for 10 + 1$ with 90 players or for 2 + 0.25$ with 180 players. This is the perfect training ground for the really big Tournaments! To win the big tournaments you need a lot of experience.
Follow the following link to find out more about Multitable Strategy: Strategic Advice for Multitable Poker Tournaments
Scheduled Tournament
These tournaments do not start when X Players have signed up, but have an exactly defined start time, when the tournament starts with all players who have chosen to register for the tournament. These tournaments also are multitable tournaments. The participating players (usually several hundreds or sometimes even thousands) are distributed to dozens of tables, as only 9 or 10 Players are allowed to play at a single table. When the tournament starts, it is also defined how much prize money will be distributed and which place pays how much. Usually, roughly the best 10% of the players receive a prize. A victory in a tournament like this is very lucrative, as the prize grows exponentially the better you do. On the other hand, you can play for several hours just to get knocked out before reaching the prize money (bubble). To give you an impression: a standard 5+0.50$ Tournament with about 250 players on Pokerroom lasts about 3 1/2 hours.
If the stakes are higher, people usually do not get busted out as quickly and on the other hand the Blind Levels last longer, too. Which means, these tournaments last even longer! Important: Only play in a Scheduled Tournament if you are absolutely sure you do not have any appointments or duties to fulfill during the next couple of hours. Think about it: You reach you first final table, but the tournament went too long and you are about to miss an important meeting...
Follow the following link to find out more about Multitable Strategy: Strategic Advice for Multitable Poker Tournaments
Special Tournament Types
Heads Up Tournaments
In this version two people compete against each other, until one player loses all his chips. The winner receives the opponents' stake.
Heads Up Tournaments usually are only played as Single Table Sit & Go Tournaments online, but Pokerstars as an exception offers Multitable Sit & Go Tournaments. You can play Heads-Up Sit & Go Tournaments up to 64 Players. Winner takes it all!
Rebuy and Add-On Tournaments
In this tournament version all players have the opportunity to rebuy Chips during a specified period (usually one hour) of time.
Most Online Poker Providers enable you to rebuy as soon as your chip stack has dropped under your starting stack. This means, that you do not have to go broke to be able to make a rebuy. Often Rebuy-Tournaments also offer an Add-On. The Add-On allows players to buy Chips one last time no matter what their chipstack is. This Add-On Phase takes place between the end of the rebuy period and start of 'normal tournament play'.
Please read the following article to find out more about Rebuy Tournament Strategy: Rebuy Tournament Strategy
Shootout Tournaments
Shootout Tournaments are a variant of Multitable Tournaments, where the amount of tables is not reduced when the first 9 or 10 players are knocked out, but all tables continue playing until a defined number of players (usually 1 to 3) are left over. These remaining players reach the next round and face the winners of other tables etc.
ShortHanded Tournaments
ShortHanded Tournaments only differ from other tournaments in the number of players allowed per table. Usually Shorthanded Tournaments allow maximally 5 or 6 players per Table. The tournament variant usually shortens play, because one has to play more offensively (less opposition means you have to play more hands) and hands are played faster (less players involved). In a Shorthanded one table Sit & Go Tournament usually only the best two players receive a prize. Shorthanded Tournaments exist as Scheduled or as Sit & Go Tournaments. Also Shorthanded Rebuy-Tournaments exist.
Turbo Tournaments
Turbo Tournaments are Tournaments with shortened Blind Levels (5 Minutes per Level instead of 10 Minutes, for example)
These Tournaments are full of action, as you have to take more risks than in a normal tournament. You do not have the time to wait for good hands, because the Blinds catch up too quickly. The shorter the blind levels are, the higher is the luck factor of a tournament. There are Scheduled and Sit & Go Turbo Tournaments. And of course there are also Turbo Rebuy or Turbo Shorthanded Tournaments.
Satellite Tournaments
The really big tournaments start at a Buy-In of 500 USD or higher! Obviously not every one wants to spend so much money or is not capable of playing for such a big sum. This is where the Satellite Tournaments get interesting. Satellite Tournaments offer the winner the entry to the 'Big Tournament'. Often you can also win packages to huge Tournaments, like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) or the European Poker Tour (EPT). The most well known winner of a Satellite Tournament certainly is Chris Moneymaker, who took part in a Satellite Tournament for 39$ and won the entry to the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event. Incidently, he happened to win the Main Event (and 2'500'000 $) and became a star over night. His autobiography can be found here: Moneymaker Book.
OF course there are Sit&Go and Scheduled Satellite Tournaments.
Qualifier Tournaments
These Tournaments are very similar to satellite tournaments, but here one can win the entry fee to other 'normal Tournaments'.
If you do not want to invest 30+3$ for a Tournament at Pokerroom, you can take part in a 4.50+0.50$ Qualifier for the same tournament. The winner receives a ticket for a 30+3 $ Tournament of his choice.
The difference beteween Qualifier and Satellite Tournaments is that in a Qualifier you win a Tournament Token of a specific value and in a Qualifier you win the entry Ticket to a specific event!
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