Tournament Rules and Policies

PokerStars offers more online poker tournaments than any other site. This page sets out the general rules and policies for playing online tournaments in the PokerStars ‘poker room’.

The tournament rules page provides more detailed tournament rules. There are also many tournament types that you can play, and different possible prize structures.

Below are the rules and policies that are applicable to every online tournament at PokerStars. You can get all the info on exciting PokerStars tournaments by visiting the online tournaments section.

Poker Tournament Basics

All of the players in a poker tournament begin with the same amount of chips. As the tournament progresses, the mandatory blinds and antes increase according to a set schedule. When a player loses all of his or her chips, that player is eliminated from the tourney. The last player not eliminated wins the tournament, and is awarded the largest proportion of the prize pool. The remainder of the prize pool is distributed among the top finishers according to a schedule that is based on the tourney structure and the number of tourney entrants. The Tournament Lobby in the game software displays the payout structure, current tourney status and other details. Click ‘Tournament Info’ in the Tournament Lobby for additional information.

Registering in a Tournament

PokerStars tournaments are listed in the lobby of the game software under the tabs: ‘Tourney’, ‘Sit & Go’ and ‘Events’. Details about each tournament are displayed, such as game type and buy-in. You can select any tourney to get more info and find out if registration is open.

To register for a tournament, you can double-click on the tournament name in the list, or click on ‘Tourney Lobby’. You will be taken to the Tournament Lobby. To register, click ‘Register’ (you must be logged-in). You will be seated at a table several minutes before the event starts.

Tournament Game play

Each player in the tournament is assigned to a random seat and poker table. Players cannot choose a new seat. In tournaments for games like Hold’em that have a rotating dealer, the dealer button starts off on seat 1.

When it’s your turn to act, you can choose to ‘call’, ‘raise’ or ‘fold’, or to ‘check’ or ‘bet’, depending on what happened before the action was on you. Players are given a set amount of time to act, to ensure that the game flows smoothly. The exact amount of time depends on the tournament. If a player takes too long to make a decision, a reminder appears in the chat box, and the player may be given the option to use the ‘Time Bank’ for extra time.

Information about the current status of the tournament, such as your current chip position and the average chip stack is can be seen by clicking the ‘Info’ tab in the table window. Statistical information about your play in the tournament can be viewed by clicking the ‘Stats’ tab.

You can also view info on the tournament in the Tournament Lobby, such as current blind levels, tourney progress and rankings of each player, and prize pool structure.

At the conclusion of a tournament, each prize winner will get a confirmation email from PokerStars. You can opt out of these emails through ‘Options’ in the game lobby. To see a detailed breakdown of the tourney, select ‘Tournament History’ from ‘Requests’ in the lobby.

You can observe the tables in any tournament that is running, even if you’re not a participant in the tournament. Go to the Tournament Lobby, choose a table to watch, and click on ‘Observe Table’.

Tournament Money (T-Money)

If a player wins entry to a live poker event through an online satellite tourney, he or she can unregister and receive T-Money (Tournament Money) instead (with some rare exceptions).

Players can use T-Money to register in online PokerStars tournaments. In certain cases, VIPs can also use T-Money to register in live poker tournaments. For more details, see the Live Events information pages.

It is important to note that T-Money is not the same as real money, because it cannot be used in ring games and cannot be cashed out. Players can check their T-Money balances in the ‘Cashier’ in the poker game software. A player can have T-Money in balances in multiple currencies (e.g. T$ and T£), with each balance displayed separately.

There may be situations where a player needs PokerStars to unregister from a tournament on his or her behalf. In that case, contact the support team via the ‘Help > Contact Support’ option in the PokerStars game lobby. We will be glad to assist you. Remember to provide the ID number of the tourney from which you want to unregister.

Please contact us at support@pokerstars.com with any questions about PokerStars tournaments.