Texas Holdem - Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments are structured competitions where players compete against each other to accumulate all the chips in play. In "normal" casino games, each hand is unrelated to any other. Players can quit whenever they want. In tournaments, players can not quit and cash out their chips. Play continues until there is a winner.

There are different types of poker tournaments: "Elimination" tournaments are the most common type. In this structure all players begin with the same amount of chips, and play continues until one player has accumulated all the chips. As players are eliminated, the active players are re-seated at fewer and fewer tables. While the winner of the tournament is the player who accumulates all the chips, the payout structure rewards several players. For example, if ninety-five players start a tournament, commonly the "final table" of nine players would receive prize money -- with eighth getting a larger prize than ninth, seventh getting more than eighth, etc.

"Rebuy tournaments" have structures where for an initial period of time players who lose all their chips are allowed to "rebuy" more chips and continue to play. Rebuy tournaments generally feature more aggressive play earlier on as players do not face the prospect of elimination if they lose all their chips. Rebuys often lead to larger total prize pools being played for than would be standard for the initial entry cost.

In "shootout tournaments" tables are not combined as players are eliminated. Rather, each table plays down to a single winner. Then table winners proceed to a finals portion of the event. So, if a tournament starts with sixteen tables, the sixteen table winners then compete elimination style until there is a winner. Shootout tournaments normally last several hours less than elimination events.

"Satellites" are preliminary, "mini" tournaments. For example, prior to a tournament costing $1000 to enter, ten players each put up $100, with the winner advancing to the main event.