William Hill Poker
UK. One of the highest quality
poker sites available to learn to
play poker online. The software
is a dream to use, has excellent
atmosphere in game and new
players from around Europe play
here to learn the ropes.
This
is a top all round UK poker site
with £5,000 in free play
chips renewed when you run out.
The tournaments start from
£1 and both instant poker
and software download are
available. >>More
info
Poker
Stars
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No
1
worldwide Poker Stars offer new players
excellent online poker facilities
to learn the game. Free play
poker and tournaments are
available 24/7 against other free
players online.
Cash stakes start from only a few
pence and tournaments start from
only 5p which is fantastic for
cash play experience.
Follow
the instructions on their
software download and be playing
in minutes. >>More
info
Ladbrokes
Poker
UK These guys are known around
the world and they offer revamped
poker software in 2D,3D and
Instant play.
Free play is available 24 / 7 on
regular poker games only but
their tournaments start from only
$1 so won't break the bank. >>More
info
Virtual
Reality Poker
UK. A popular site with new
players looking for the best
gaming online. Theres poker
school, forums, blogs, freerols
and of course 24/7 free play
poker on the best virtual reality
poker site around.
Excellent
quality software via download
only and a high specced pc will
be required to handle it all. >>More
info
Getting
started in online poker tournaments. How
online poker tournaments work and how to start playing
them.
Poker tournaments online, are very easy to enter, ..they start at very low entry fees (minimum of 5p but
thats's depending on the site) , can reach huge amounts of
prize money and are hugely popular online with both new and
experienced poker players.
The basic rule of how tournaments work,
.. is very, very simple and though there are various
types of online poker tournament a player can enter, they
all operate along very similar lines :
For
Example :
If
100 online players each pay an entry fee of 10p to play a
tournament.
..added together = 100 x 10p, creates a £10 prize
pool that the players will play for.
All the
players are each given an equal amount of chips of say
$1500 to play the tournament with and they all play poker
untill each loses all their chips and is eliminated from
the game.
The last
player left on the table with all the chips is the winner
of the tournament and he or she wins the top share of the
prize pool of, for example : 40% of the £10 prize
pool, which = £4
The
remaining 60% of the prize pool is then shared among the
runner ups with :
2nd place taking 20% = £2
3rd place taking 15% = £1.50
4th - 9th place taking 5% each = 0.50p per player
Tournament prize money can be shared a lot further with
less percentages paid per player and this means that more
players get paid and generally at first if you can only
win your entry fee back plus a bit more, then that is a
good start.
Use an entry fee of £1 per player in the above
example and you can see immediately how the prize pool
can get very big, very quickly
....and that's the basics of any online poker
tournament.
Larger
entry fees and plenty of players means a big payout.
The more players who enter a tournament, regardless of entry
fee size makes the prize pool larger PLUS it also means more
players get paid. Big entry fee poker tournaments give huge
prize pools and some players win life changing amounts of
cash online from playing a poker tournament. The low entry
fee tournaments normally attract a lot of players and these
are an excellent way of gaining experience online without
fear of losing much money. (5,000 players on a $1.10 entry
fee and a guaranteed $5,000 payout is not unusual on
Poker
Stars
for example ).
Entry
Fee's Explained.
When you look at a poker lobby with all the games listed,
you will see that the tournament listing will show the entry
fee plus ..... This could read $1 + .20. This means that the
tournament will put $1 of your entry into the prize pool and
use the extra .20 cents is a commission to cover its costs
for the facilities provided to you that enables you to play
online..
In regular cash play poker the site will take a percentage
of each hand raked and it is so nominal, players don't even
notice. This is the poker sites way of making their money so
they can keep the site running. Savvy ?
With the basics of any poker tournament being the
same, the various types of tournament that players can
easily enter can be divided into following :
The
main types of tournament structure are
:
HEADS UP TOURNAMENTS. One table but only two players who have each paid their
entry fee.
The headsup winner takes all the prize pool
money.
(STT)
Single table Sit and Go Tournaments :
Players pay an entry fee from as little as $1 and are
playing poker as soon as the required amount of players have
entered online.
The required amount of players for a sit and go tournament
can be as little as six or a maximum of 10 players on a
single table and the prize pool will be divide between
either the top 2 or 3 of the players, though some poker
sites are allowing the top 5 players to share the cash which
is great for new players who can get a taste of winning some
money back early on.
( MTT
)Multi
Table Sit and Go Tournaments or tourneys : Multi table tournaments or 'tourneys', can allow
thousands of players to enter at once and because of the
amount of players, multiple tables have to be implemented to
allow all the players to be able to play at the same time.
Players only play against the people at the same table
untill they are eliminated or moved to another table. The
winner is the last person left at the table who wil have all
the chips and the biggest cut of the prize pool plus a big
smile on the face.
Each table plays its own poker and as players are eliminated
from individual tables, the remaining players are then
shuffled aorund the tables to balance out those eliminated
in the play.
Generally each table will seat 9 or 10 online players but
what is known as 'short handed' tournaments are becoming
more popular and instead of 9 or 10 players per table there
will only be a maximum of six, which means more tables but
less competition at each table .
Prize pools are shared with ratios depending on how
many players have entered.
A ten player tournament will normally pay the top three
players where as a Multi Table tournament will have a
minimum player player payout ratio of say top 80 players
getting a cut of the prize pool.
The cost of entry fees start from as little as only 5p per
player but high rollers can enter tournaments for fees of
thousands of £'s or $'s.
A MTT with 3,000 players who all pay a 10p entry fee, will
have a prize pool of approx £300 and the prize money
payout structure can vary between poker sites. ( Some poker
sites have a minimum buy in of $1 and others £1 but
eitherway the winner always takes the biggest cut of the
cash which is then paid directly into the players account.
)
The larger the entry fee and the more players who enter a
MTT, the bigger the prize pool and more players get a cut of
the prize money.
Free online poker tournaments are not very common but
they are aout there and one site in particular who offer
regular FREE play tournaments is Poker
Stars
www.virtualrealitypoker.co.uk is the
UK online virtual 2D, 3D and realistic poker review and
information site for both new and experienced players.
www.virtualrealitypoker.co.uk is UK based and not related to
any of the online poker sites mentioned on this site. We
offer FREE and impartial advice plus reviews for anyone
interested in, or already playing poker online for FREE or
for real money stakes.
To play poker online for real money stakes, players in the
UK must be at least 18 years old. For any other country
please check your jurisdiction for age and gambling
restrictions that may apply to you.
