Tournaments

Poker tournaments offer players the chance to participate in high stakes, fast moving poker games. Two types of tournaments are offered:

In each type of tournament, a player buys in for some amount (of play money), which is deducted from the player's poker bankroll. Any winnings will be credited to the winning players' bankrolls.

If a player leaves, sits out, or loses their internet connection during tournament play, forced bets (blinds, antes, etc) will still be placed. Hands will fold at the next optional bet until they are out of chips. Their seat is automatically reserved and they may rejoin play at any time as long as they still have chips.

In Multi-table Tournaments, players are no longer given a seat at a table until they connect for the first time, however blinds are still removed from their tournament chipstack at regular intervals. See the Multi-table Tournaments page for more details.

Tournaments are either No Limit, Pot Limit or Limit betting. No Limit games allow bets of any size at any time and there is no limit to the number of raises allowed. Pot Limit tournaments allow bets up to the size of the then current pot (including the uncollected bets and the amount required to call). Minimum bets are posted at the beginning of the tournament and raised periodically throughout the game. Players are required to bet at least the minimum (with the exception that a player may always bet the remainder of their chips if they have less than the minimum), and the maximum is determined by the format of the game.

If a player is faced with a bet that is larger than the amount he has available, the player may go "all in", betting all his chips. "Side pots" are created whenever there is an imbalance in chips contributed by the players remaining in the hand. Side pots ensure that players are not forced from hands just because they are low on chips. If a player has put more chips in the pot than anyone else at the table can match, he is given a refund of the extra amount. If the player who goes all in wins the hand he is only entitled to the pots to which he contributed. Side pots will be awarded to the player, among those in contention for the side pot, with the best hand.