Why are tournament poker games so popular?
Poker tournaments attract a large crowd. It's normal to have hundreds or even thousands of players in a single tournament. In recent years, poker has become an international phenomenon. It seems like everyone is playing this game. While most credit the internet for this surge in popularity made by no deposit bonus casinos, we shouldn't forget the role of tournament poker in spreading and accelerating interest in the game.
When TV networks realized that broadcasting poker tournaments drew millions of viewers, major poker tournaments received even more attention from the media. This led to significant increases in prize pools, and the most renowned poker players became superstars.
The understanding that "anyone can become a champion" is what makes poker tournaments so appealing. You can pay a small entry fee to participate in a satellite tournament and, eventually, win the main event of the World Series of Poker.
This may take a lot of time, but it's possible - just remember Chris Moneymaker.
Key tournaments of the world series
The pinnacle of poker is the World Series of Poker (WSOP), held annually in early summer in Las Vegas. The best players from around the world participate in over 60 tournaments covering various poker variants. The Main Event, with a buy-in of $10,000, crowns the series.
Because thousands of players enter the Main Event, the first-place prize can reach around $10 million!
Next in importance are the tournaments of the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the European Poker Tour (EPT). One could endlessly debate which is "cooler," but it's hard to reach a consensus. In any case, both series feature mostly the same world-class players, and prize pools often exceed millions of dollars and euros.
In the third tier of offline poker tournaments, we have local poker series like the Russian Poker Tour (RPT), Russian Poker Series (RPS), and Ukrainian-Russian Poker Tour (URT). These tournaments draw not only international celebrities but also many players from various levels in the CIS and neighboring countries.
If you're just starting with poker tournaments, we recommend starting with local series, where the buy-ins are lower and the competition is slightly weaker.
Online Poker Tournaments
WCOOP - World Championship of Online Poker.
In addition to live or offline tournaments, there are series for those who prefer playing poker from home or have other legitimate reasons for not being able to visit a poker club or casino.
For such players, the pinnacle of online poker tournaments is the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), held every September on the world's largest poker platform, PokerStars. There's also a special series in the spring called the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), which is a more condensed version of the world championship.
Besides these tournaments, every poker room offers its own series, differing only in the number of participants, and consequently, the size of the prize pool. Explore poker rooms in our reviews and choose the one that suits you best.
How to Play in Poker Tournaments
Poker tournaments come in all shapes and sizes. If you want to win big money in single-table games, you must play at high stakes, which requires a lot of money. Such games are unpredictable and nothing can shield you from losing a large amount of money attempting stakes that are beyond your means.
A poker tournament, on the other hand, is a different situation. Some online poker tournaments attract thousands of participants, and even if they buy in for just a few dollars, the prize pool can become substantial. If you want to try and win big money but don't want to rely solely on luck, a poker tournament is the way to go.
Find good free tournaments or tournaments with guaranteed prize pools or other competitions where you can win decent money.
