Online casinos have been the rave of the gambling world for quite some time. Most of these outfits offer way more games to players than brick-and-mortar casinos, and some are even expanding their services by integrating sportsbooks as well. Nevertheless, one of the biggest draws for customers has to be online casino tournaments. Such tournaments offer players the ability to buy in low and leverage their skill (or luck) to win a pot many times their original stake. This profitability has made the tournaments very popular, and it is quite normal to see 5 dollar deposit casinos in Canada offering such tournament opportunities. It’s time we also got around to explaining what casino tournaments are, how they work and some of the best around.
How Do Online Casino Tournaments Work?
Casino tournaments can operate in distinctly different ways. The first is to receive chips from the online casino and play those chips during a time window. Results from such a tournament are accumulated on a leaderboard and the pot is given to whoever tops the board. Tournaments that are structured in this way are more appropriate for games that are played against the house such as slots, roulette etc. The other structure involves players buying in and playing against other gamblers until the winner is left standing. Games that follow this structure usually involve skill and can be played against the house and other players. That said, the following are popular features of online casino tournaments:
- You have to be a registered member of the online casino to participate. Regardless of whether a tournament is free or you are buying in, you need to sign up on the casino website to be eligible.
- Tournaments popularly come with their unique rules including, the length of playing time, betting limits, and the number of players that are allowed.
- The tournaments are designed to be fair. Where buy-ins are required, all players pay the same amounts and are provided with the same volume of chips, credits or bets. The same goes for games that are free.
- The more players that buy in, the higher the prize pot. Tournaments that are not free involve the payment of relatively small amounts of money and that money either goes into the pot wholly or after the house has taken its cut. Whichever one occurs, the size of the pot would only be determined by the number of players (if the rules don’t specify a fixed number). Learn also why online casinos set withdrawal limits.
How Many Players Can Participate in an Online Casino Tournament?
This is determined by the type of tournament that has been organised by the casino. Typically, there are three types of online casino tournaments namely:
- Freeroll tournaments: as the name implies, such tournaments are free; players do not need to pay fees or buy-in. Such a tournament might constitute a loyalty program for regular customers or might be a marketing tactic. The prize pool here is often fixed and is offered by the casino.
- Paid tournaments: this type of tournament involves a buy-in. Players pay to get in and their money accumulates to form the total prize pool. Freeroll and paid tournaments rarely have a limit on the number of players that can participate in them. However, unlike the freeroll, paid tournaments do not have fixed prize pools.
- Sit and go: sit and go tourneys are organised to sit a limited number of participants. Once the allocated tournament spots are taken, the casino kicks off the competition. Due to its nature, players tend to register for such tournaments in advance.
As pointed out earlier, the number of participants can be part of the competition rules in which case the race would only begin when the spots are filled. This style of tournament is commonly referred to as sit-and-go tourneys. On the other hand, there are tournaments that have no player limit and player registration here goes on until the hosting casino starts the competition.
Obviously, the latter type tends to have significantly more players than the former because it’s unlimited and this could raise the value of the prize pot if buy-ins are required. In summary, the number of participants in an online casino tournament is determined mainly by the rules that the casino is employing.
How Much Can You Win From a Casino Tournament?
Here lies the beauty of casino tournaments; you can win anything. In a case where the prize pool is not fixed, total prizes could vary from as low as hundreds of dollars to as much as millions of dollars. At the end of the games, this prize pool is then split among the top players in a predetermined formula or handed to the winner. The prize splitting procedure is mostly reserved for bigger tournaments with larger pots. Due to the method, single players rarely (if ever) receive the total prize available. Read also about N.C. man using his fortune cookie numbers ‘on a whim’ to win a $4M mega millions lottery.
What Types of Games Can You Play in an Online Casino Tournament?
If you are going to be participating in an online casino tournament, pay close attention to the game that is specified before registering. This is because casinos specify the tournament game beforehand. For example, there are popularly slot tournaments, blackjack tournaments, baccarat tournaments and poker tournaments. Slot tournaments are among the favourites because they require little skill to win. On the other hand, skilled players find blackjack and poker more appealing. Blackjack, most especially, is tricky with the winner usually coming down to who’s fastest. This occurs because a lot of the registered players make use of the same strategies.
Best Online Casino Tournaments for You
There are lots of online casinos and a sizable number of them offer multiple tournaments. Unfortunately, their number makes it difficult to collate a list of the best tournaments without spending years reviewing them. Nevertheless, there are tips to narrow down the field. The first is to decide if you want a free or paid tournament and, in the case of the latter, determine how much you are willing to buy in. The next tip would be to assess the reputation of the casinos offering the tournaments. The final advice we have for you is to select the tournament where you have the most chances of winning (or staying competitive). If you follow our advice, you should have a much-reduced group of tournaments to choose from.
Conclusion
As much as casinos can be fun to gamble at, they can get pretty boring over time. Online casino tournaments exist to spice things up when they seem to be slowing down. Through these tournaments, gambling takes on a more competitive edge and that can resurrect the lost thrill. However, note that the tournament is only really interesting if you have the skills (or luck) to compete. What we mean is, pick a game that suits your skills to get the best experience from casino tournaments.
