There are many different types of Poker Tournaments that you can participate in, particularly if you like to play poker online. Each different type of tournament with a different structure needs a different approach in order to succeed. We are going to look at each type of structure in turn and analyse what sort of approach is optimal in each one. Future articles will look at each type of poker tournament in more detail. Before you sign up to any poker tournament you should be analysing the structure and assessing if it is worth your while to play in it.
Freezeout Tournaments
These tournaments are the most frequently played. Players get one buy-in and pay-outs and prizes are decided by what your finishing position is. Once you bust out of the tournament your game is over i.e. once you lose, you are frozen out from continuing to play. The structure of a freezeout is normally now like a deepstack or a turbo, but somewhere in the middle. A solid grasp of poker tournament strategy gives you a good chance of success in this tournament format.
Re-buy Tournaments
For the first ninety minutes or opening levels of some poker tournaments you buy a new stack of chips if you are busted. For this reason players like to build a stack in the early part of the poker tournaments by gambling. This is a good strategy to use because as everyone else is gambling you get far more value spots where a raise can be far lighter in terms of hand strength than when a player would bust out if he is called.
Action in a re-buy period of a tournament is fast and furious and not for the weak at heart. They can give you a good opportunity for building a big stack for the later stages of the tournament but you will need to change gears and adopt a more conservative style of play after the re-buy period ends as players immediately tighten up. The action at the beginning is only such because players can re-buy if things do not work out for them.
Turbo Structures
Poker tournaments can often take around four hours to complete, sometimes a lot longer. Players who enjoy participating in online poker tournaments sometimes do not have as long to play before other engagements so they prefer a faster structure. Not only does the faster structure get the poker tournament completed in a shorter space of time but the strategies used are more straight-forward. This gives less skilled players a better chance to win. Players are looking to get their money in as the favourite and hope to hold. Winning these marginal situations are a big part of getting lucky enough to win the tournament, rather than relying on squeeze plays and other complicated moves to outplay their opponents. A player with a skill edge also enjoys tournaments as their profit is obtained in a shorter space of time.
Different types of poker tournaments suit different types of player. If you enjoy a gamble rather than steadily outplaying your opponents then you will find the poker tournament structures that suit you best are the ones with the faster structures. The poker strategy required to beat those games is better suited to your own poker playing preferences. Try out all the different types of tournaments and see which suits you best.
Just because you think one will suit you does not mean it will unless you have already experienced it. Keep accurate records and let the statistics show you which type of poker tournament to focus on. Prize pools are always healthy, so do not delay in finding your best game.
By Malcolm Clarke