Tournaments

Before joining a casino tournament, it's important to understand how they work. To do this, it's a good idea to become accustomed to the terminology casinos use. Here's a quick guide into tournaments at online casinos.

Game and Tournament Name

Every tournament revolves around a specific casino game. There are tournaments that focus on specific slot games. Some involve table games like Blackjack, but some cover games like video poker and Keno. You'll find the game name clearly listed on a tournament grid. The "tournament name" is the name of the tournament. It might be that the tournament is part of the daily free spins tournaments. Others may be week-long or month-long specialty tournaments that have larger prize pools.

Participants

"Participants" lists how many players have joined the tournament. If there are 50 players and 10 prize levels, you may not do as well as you would joining a tournament with 19 players and 10 prize levels. You also want to see what the total prize pool is to see if the tournament is worth the entry fee.

Starting and Ending Times

If you join and have limited time to play, it's unlikely you'll place well. The key to a casino tournament is being able to play often until the tournament ends. All online casino tournaments have a “starts on” time. Pay close attention to the date and time. The time given may not be for your time zone. If it doesn't specify, contact customer service to find out what time zone is intended. There's also a time given for “Ends In” or something similar. This details exactly how many hours and minutes remain until the tournament ends. You might see an ending time of 6 days and 14 hours for tournaments that still have time before it completes. Others may say 4 hours and 14 minutes, so those are the tournaments ending soon. Tournaments have a date and time set for registration. To join the competition, you must register before that date and time. For example, in a weekly tournament that runs from July 1st to July 8th, it may tell you that you have to register before midnight on July 7th if you want to participate.

Tournament Fees

Tournaments may not have an entry fee, free entry tournaments are usually called “freerolls.” Some tournaments do charge a fee. If there is a fee, it's listed as an “entry fee” or “buy-in.” For that fee, players get a starting balance that varies. You might get $200 in chips. You'll see the amount listed as the “starting balance” usually. If you run out and want to buy more, there's a “rebuy fee.” Your balance usually has to be at or below a certain point before you can rebuy, you'll see that under “rebuy balance.” Tournaments may limit the number of rebuys or the tournament may allow unlimited rebuys. You'll see that under the “maximum number of rebuys.”

Prize Pool or Total Purse

This is the amount of the pot available. You might see it listed as the “total purse.” Some tournaments split the pot between multiple winners. Others hand the entire pot to the top player. If you click on the tournament of interest, a drop-down list comes up. In this list is a break down of the prize pool. You'll see how many players are in the lead and how much of a prize each player is currently winning. Rankings are usually based on points received for each bet that's made. For example, many tournaments give 1 point for every qualifying bet made on a slot game. Say the rules state that you get 1 point for every $1 bet on Cleopatra slots. If you bet $1 and spin the reels 25 times, you gain 25 points. Other tournaments rank players based on the amount of money they win while playing the tournament's chosen game. Online casinos typically have more than a dozen tournaments you can join on any given day. Try your hand with a free roll and see how they work. From there, you'll find the special monthly and weekly tournaments are well worth your time.