Build up a bankroll playing online tournaments

Poker can be played in two important ways: cash games or tournaments. In cash games, every chip in front of you represents a fixed amount of money, so at a no limit game this means the range between what you can win and lose in one particular hand is enormous. That’s exactly what makes this type of poker so interesting, however: you need a decent bankroll and a lot of competences to beat the big games here.

In contrast, playing online poker tournaments is considered a good way to learn the game and build up a bankroll. Everybody buys in for a fixed amount of money which grants all the participants the same stack size. Blinds will go up every determined time period and the last men standing (top 3 when 9 or 10 handed, top 2 when 6 handed) receive a percentage of the prize pool. So whatever how many chips are in front of you, the maximum you can loose will be the same for every single player.

So if you play poker online, what kind of sit and go tournaments are there? First there’s the size of the field: it ranges from 2 players (just playing heads-up) to about 180. Those tournaments will start when the required amount of players is registered. Of course there are also the scheduled tournaments, these only have a minimum and maximum of participants and start at a fixed time. Second important issue is the ‘table size’: although most tournaments are 9 or 10 handed, there are also special tournaments with for example 90 participants, seated on 15 6 handed (short handed) tables. Or for example the so called ‘shoot-out’ tournaments, with e.g. 32 participants who will play each other heads-up till one player remains. Last important thing is the blind structure. Regular tournaments have a structure which allows you to play some decent poker, without being short stacked too early in the tournament. People who look for some extra action will prefer the ‘turbo’ and even ‘super turbo’ tourneys: blinds go up fast and faster and this will create a lot of action. Are you, just like Mr. White, playing on a Mac? No problem, practice for the poker tournaments in these Mac poker sites that provide real money competitions and are free to download.

So how about strategy? In fact it’s not that complicated. During the early phase of the tournament you will be able to play a little loose passive, especially in late position. The blinds are relatively low so you can try to see a lot of flops. This implicates of course an adapted strategy for early position: because a lot of players try to see a flop you better play your premium hands very tight aggressive in early position. When the blinds get higher and the field gets smaller it’s all about aggression: the position of a lot of players will be at risk and you can enlarge your stack by putting them under pressure and steal their blinds. If you follow these very basic rules you’ll already be able to make some profit online, for more information about strategy you can follow our blog!