Information About Online Poker Rooms

Poker Games played at online poker rooms can be divided into two different categories, they are regular single table games and tournament games. Single table games (also called ring games) are the same games that most poker players have played against other opponents at someone's house. Several people play at the same table, you are dealt cards and bet. Whoever wins the hand takes the money that was wagered. Same game as you are used to playing, except you play over the internet.

Once you are a member of an online poker room, you can join a ring game by going to an active table and clicking on an open seat. The cost of a regular table game may be anywhere from a one cent big blind (similar to an ante) to a one hundred dollar or larger big blind for hold'em poker tables. In a ring game you can leave the game with your entire bankroll at any time. Ring games are great when you have small amounts of unoccupied time. If you've got ten minutes to kill before you go out, you've got time to play a few hands of poker at an online poker room.

Ring games and tournaments come in no limit, pot limit, and limit versions. Limit games place a maximum on the amount you can bet. Pot limit games have a bet limit equal to the number of chips in the pot. No limit games have no betting limit, you can put all your chips in the pot anytime it is your turn to bet. All online poker sites have hold'em ring games. Most offer other ring games including omaha and 7 card stud poker.

In a scheduled online poker tournament, also called multi table tourney (mtt), players pay an entry fee (buy-in) to a tournament that begins at a certain time on a certain date. Play may involve anywhere from several players to several thousand players that are seated at one to several hundred tables (ten players or less per table). The buy-in for a tournament game may be anywhere from a dollar or less to several thousand dollars.

The buy-in for an online poker tournament will be listed in the following manner: $100 + $10. The first amount goes into the prize pool, the second amount goes to the site hosting the game (the house). In most cases the online poker room hosting the game gets 10% of what goes to the prize pool but in some lower cost tournaments the online poker room might take a higher percentage to cover operating costs. An example would be a $5 + $1 tournament, in this case the online poker room is getting 20%. In more expensive games, the online poker room will usually take a smaller percentage. An example would be a $5,000 + $200 tournament, in this case the house is getting 4%.

Each participant starts with the same number of chips and the game is played until there is only player left with all the chips. The number of chips you start with depends on the site hosting the game and how much the entry fee is. In general, the higher the entry fee, the more chips you will start with, so an online poker room might have $10 + $1 tournaments that start with 800 chips per player, and $10,000 + $500 tournaments that start with 2500 chips per player.

Money in a tournament is usually awarded to the top 7% to 20% of the finishers. That is, if 1000 people enter a tournament, the top 70 to 200 players will usually finish in the money. The closer a player is to first place, the larger the payoff.

The more people that play, the longer a tournament will last. A tournament with 3000 entrants can last six hours or longer. A tournament with several hundred entrants can last three hours or longer. Once a tournament has started, you can not get you entry fee (buy-in) back.

A satellite poker tournament is one in which the winner(s) gain entry into a tournament with a larger buy-in (entry fee) and a larger prize pool. For example, assume there is a satellite tournament with a $10 + $1 buy-in. If 55 people entered, the prize pool would be $550 (55 people x $10), the house would get $55 (55 people x $1).

The winners of this example tournament will gain entry to a $100 + $10 buy-in tournament. The satellite tournament would then be played until only five people remained, those five people would each gain entry to the $100 + $10 buy-in tournament.

Satellites are a great way for a solid player on a budget to get into some larger buy-in games that might otherwise be out of financial reach.

A re-buy tournament is one that allows a player to buy more chips during the game. It's a good way to get back into a game if you've lost a large number of chips but it can cost you a lot if you keep loosing and re-buying. Satellite poker tournaments often have re-buy options.

Sit and Go or 'single table tournaments' are unscheduled games that usually have anywhere from two to forty players sitting at one to four tables. Players pay the entry fee and are seated, when the set number of entrants is reached, the game starts. Most online poker rooms have single table sit and go tournaments for 10 players or less, but a few have multi table sit and go tournaments that may have up to 200 players.

A sit and go tourney with 9-10 entrants or less will usually pay the top 2-3 players and last about 30 to 60 minutes or longer. A sit and go tourney with 30 entrants or more will usually pay the top 5 players and last about 90 to 120 minutes or longer. Larger tournaments will generally take longer to play and more people will finish in the money.