Poker Tournaments - Variants of Poker

Variants of Poker

While some tournaments offer a mix of games, like H.O.R.S.E. events which combine Hold'em, Omaha, Razz, Stud and Stud Eight or Better and Dealer's Choice events, at which one may choose from a similar menu of games, most tournaments feature one form of stud or community card poker, such as seven-card stud, seven card high-low stud, Omaha Hold 'em or Texas Hold 'em. Both Omaha and Texas Hold'em tournaments are commonly offered in fixed-limit and pot limit, and no limit Texas hold 'em tournaments are very common (no-limit Omaha is almost nonexistent in tournament play).

Sit and gos are another specific type of poker tournament. Regular tournaments begin at a scheduled time, and however many players are registered for that tournament when the starting time approaches, is the number of players that make up that specific tournament. Sit and gos are formatted the same as regular tournaments, except they begin when a certain amount of players register for it. Standard sit and gos usually consist of 2,6,9,10,12,18,24,27,36,45,90,100 or 180 players. Sit and gos are formatted the same as regular tournaments; everyone buys-in to the sit and go for the same amount and every player starts with the same amount of chips. Each player in a sit and go plays until all of their chips are gone. As each player is knocked out, they receive money (or don't receive money) according to what place they finish. First place makes the most money, second is rewarded with a little less than first, and so on. Unlike cash games, standard sit and go tournaments increase the blinds and antes every 15 minutes or so in equal intervals. Some sit and gos, called winner-take-all, only reward first prize with money, which receives all of the money that the sit and go consisted of from all of the buy-ins from every player in it. Other sit and gos, usually only heads up (1-on-1) sit and gos, don't ever increase the blinds. The blinds stay the same throughout the entire sit and go, causing much more skillful play to be rewarded over the long run, as players aren't as forced to play mediocre hands because of big blinds and antes.