Mon, 09/05/2011 – 10:23 – PokerPages Staff

While browsing through the list of poker games at PokerStars, a beginner poker player will see many tournaments.  Although various aspects of tournaments will differ dependent on special poker rules or circumstances, the basic principles remain the same.

Buy-In
Each tournament will have a buy-in amount advertised.  Buy-ins are types of poker bets that you use to enter tournaments, and purchase the stack of chips you are given to bet with during the hands of poker.  The chipstack you have in front of you has no monetary value outside of the poker tables.  Prize money for the tournament will be amassed from the buy-ins of all players entering.  If a tournament is billed at being $5/$.50, it means that you pay $5 into the prize pot, and $.50 goes to the “house”.

Single or Multi Table Tournament
As your chips have no monetary value, you play until you either run out of chips, or you run out of opponents.  You cannot ‘walk away’ from tournament play without forfeiting all of your chips.  Single table tournaments consist of one table, and the last player left wins the jackpot.  There may be prizes for other players, depending on the tournament rules.  Multi-table tournaments can carry on for a long time, with multiple tables running in tandem.  As players are eliminated, the tables consolidate until you are down to the last table, where the winner will be found.

The Bubble
In tournament play, the bubble is the name given to the time when all players left are guaranteed a prize.  This will only be calculated when the total number of players has been determined, and the prize structure confirmed.  

Want to learn more? PokerSchoolOnline is the Internet’s number one source for poker related learning.  When you are comfortable with the tournament rules you can gain experience by playing for free at PokerStars.net.