Tournament Poker

Tournaments are how many pokers first begin to develop their poker skills. And they can be great fun too. While beginners necessarily have a lot to learn when it comes to tournament strategy, you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of even your very first poker tournament. And with just a few tips in mind before the tourney begins, you might even win something!

What is a Tournament

The first difference between cash games and tournament poker worth noting is the nature of the buy-in. In regular cash games, there is generally both a minimum and a maximum buy-in for the game -- that is, players can buy in for different amounts. But tourneys usually feature a set price for all players.

Also, while you can always rebuy at the cash tables should you lose all of your chips, in tournaments your day is done once you lose your stack. Unless the tournament has been designated as a “rebuy” tournament, in which case you will have an option to buy back in during the first few levels of the event.

Therefore, when you play a non-rebuy tournament -- sometimes called a “freeze out” -- you are only risking the entrance fee. So unlike in a cash game where you might lose multiple buy-ins before quitting, in the tourney you cannot lose any more than what you initially invest at the outset to play. This aspect makes tournaments a great way to learn with minimal risk.

On the other hand, not being able to rebuy means that in a tournament you can only play as long as you are able to avoid losing the last of your chips. And the way tournaments work, everyone other than the eventual winner will necessarily go “bust” before the end. That means if you’re going to play a lot of tournaments, you should probably get used to the idea of losing, since even the very best players only win a small percentage of the tourneys they enter.

Tournament Mindset

The overall goal of tournaments is also quite different from cash games. In cash games every single hand involves players contending for a pot. Thus, you might say every hand has its own separate cash “prize”. But in tournaments, winning hands doesn’t guarantee you’ll win money, although it does increase the chances that you will. In a tournament, the idea is survive -- to preserve your chips for as long as possible -- hopefully lasting long enough to finish among the top spots for which cash prizes are awarded.

The early levels of a tournament sometimes feature a lot of relaxed play as players battle over small, relatively less important pots. But things can change quickly once an all-in situation occurs and a player’s tourney “life” is suddenly at risk. Of course, the tension can also get very high near the end of the tournament when the cash “bubble” bursts (meaning the remaining players have made the money), when the tourney reaches a final table, and when the last hands of heads-up are being played.