How would you describe a professional poker tournament player? Is he or she someone who plays poker every day to relax after work? Or maybe a high roller who plays only at big events such as WSOP? Maybe a professional poker gambler who plays online poker games regularly? All these descriptions are completely outdated now. Today, professionals play online poker exclusively. They also spend a lot of time training, analyzing their opponents play and preparing strategies before they sit down at the table. And then they face their opponents head-to-head. This article tells you all about the secrets behind winning poker tournaments.
The Global Scene
Poker players from all levels compete in online poker tournaments all over the world. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is considered the premier tournament series worldwide. In recent years, however, several other prestigious poker tourneys became very popular. For example, the European Poker Tour has been running since 2004, attracting around 30 million viewers each year.
Even if you’re a beginner, you should try out online poker. If you want to become a better poker player, you should always practice. Practice alone won’t get you anywhere. You have to focus on learning new skills and improving your game under real pressure. Take advantage of our free poker resources and read some articles to learn more.
Online Poker Tournaments – What’s It Really About?
In the past, there were three types of poker tournaments. First, was the live tournament, which meant that people played against each other in real life. Second was the fixed limit pool tournament, where players could either buy into a predetermined number of seats for an entry fee or pay according to how many chips they owned. Thirdly, was the freeroll, which was a no entry fee event with no prize money involved. These days, most tournaments are held online and can be divided into two categories: cash and non-cash.
Non-Cash Tournaments
These tournaments don’t include any money prizes. However, the top players receive points or trophies in return for their efforts. Examples of this kind of tournament include the WCOOP and the EPT Main Event.
Cash Tournaments
These tournaments do offer some sort of monetary reward. Usually, it’s not much though, but it will still help you improve your game and get better results when playing online poker tournaments in the future.
Qualifying for Online Poker Tournaments
If you want to participate in online poker tournaments, you need some extra qualifications first. Firstly, you must register yourself with one of the major poker sites. Secondly, you have to join a poker league. Only registered players are allowed to take part in these leagues. Then, you have to play enough hands to qualify for the actual tournament itself. There are different ways to qualify for online poker tournaments like earning points by playing certain hands, accumulating points through previous matches, or simply buying your way in. Once you’ve qualified, you’ll enter the main event.
Winning Poker Tournaments
Once you’ve entered the main event, you’ll find that the structure of the poker tournament is similar to a normal tournament. During the initial stages of the tournament, you play heads up against everyone else in order to eliminate weaker competitors. After this point, you’ll usually be matched up against fewer and fewer opponents until eventually, you’re left playing just against the best players in the field. Of course, you’ll never know what your opponent holds because you’ll only ever see their cards. This means you’ll have to rely on your instincts, skill, and luck throughout the tournament.
Poker Strategy
To win at online poker tournaments, you’ll first need to understand the basic strategy behind the game. The object of the game is simple; use as few resources as possible when making decisions about who to call and fold. For example, consider the case of a flop being dealt. In theory, anyone holding pocket aces has the best hand, but what are we supposed to do if someone also holds pocket kings? Obviously, since he already won the pot, he doesn’t care if we call. What about another player who holds J5s? He’s probably going to raise and then check his ace range (A9s-Q9s), so why should we call him instead of folding? Since he would rather risk nothing than lose everything, we should always assume he’s bluffing and fold. If this situation applies to a full house, there is a lot more room for error!
Concluding
Online poker tournaments can be very profitable if they are played correctly. You might not succeed every time you try, but it isn’t hard to learn how to become successful over time. Take note of the tips above, and you’ll soon be able to start winning more than you lose when playing casino games online.
