Comparing The Poker Tournaments On Offer At The Biggest And Best Online Poker Sites
You will be surprised just how different the poker tournaments at different online poker sites can be. Not only the buy-ins and game variations on offer, the speed of the games and (importantly) the skill level of your average opponents will vary considerably.
This article cuts through the sound bites and cliches. Instead the tournament offerings are compared from the perspective of players who want to improve their game as well as build that bankroll with some final tables... While there is little argument that Pokerstars is the biggest and the best in terms the huge number tournaments they offer, there are some drawbacks and great reasons you might want to play elsewhere - and this article explains them.
As always, reader feedback is welcome and will help to shape this and the other 'best' guides here at SNG Planet, you will find contact details from the footer of each page!
Comparing Poker Tournaments At The Biggest And Best Online Poker Sites - Pros And Cons
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Below you will find more detail on what is on offer at the major poker sites – rather than linking to each of the detailed reviews individually, I will mention here that my Best Online Poker Sites section has a detailed review and a SNG specific review of each site + lots of game-specific and comparison articles too.
Best Site For Poker Tournaments – Pokerstars.com
Biggest by a long way, the lure of Pokerstars' huge selection of games is hard to resist. In fact, most poker players will end up playing on this site at some point in their careers.
When you first click on the 'Tourney' tab at Pokerstars you will be faced with an overwhelming list of games – all color coded and ranging from the smallest buyins of < $1 through to the majors $162 to $215 and beyond this too. When we break down what is on offer you will find:
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180 and Steps and Satellite Qualifier SNGs: These games are not scheduled, and will start when the required number of players join – many of them are 'Stickied' at the top of the tournament lobby view.
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Smaller Buy Ins: The $1 To $11 buy-ins often attract fields in the 1000's, and with late registration the field can often double after the start. This means huge prizes (often with guarantees) and games which last for many hours.
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Games / Variations: Literally too many to list, Omaha, Stud, Mixed Games, knockout bounty, (new) time tournaments, rebuys, turbo blinds, 1 rebuy / 1 addon, 2x and 3x turbo, satellites, different tables sizes and so on... you are spoiled for choice!
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Mid Buy-Ins: A nice selection in the $22+ range, these often have 5-figure guarantees and stand out from most other sites in that 1000+ fields (or at least many 100's) are common.
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Higher Buy-Ins: An easy number 1 choice for the $100+ games, with these running every day. Sunday majors are huge at Stars with a list of 6 of them – crowned by the week's biggest poker tournament, the Sunday Million.
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Satellites: Qualifiers for live or online events are also huge at Pokerstars, these take many formats too, including sub-qualifiers for smaller bankroll poker fans.
In addition to the long list of types of tournament, there is also along list of reasons to choose Stars... including great software, arguably the best player loyalty scheme anywhere online, and a long list of promotions and bonus offers too. Don't want to sound too much like a Pokerstars commercial here, it is just they are the biggest poker site for a lot of good reasons.
To balance this there are some drawbacks. The main one for me is the sheer size of the fields, which can reach several thousand in the evenings at the lower to mid levels. Many of us have to be up in the mornings, and a game starting at 8pm can often end at 3 or 4am... You can balance this with the 180 player SNGs, which start as soon as 180 players have joined – what you gain in speed you sacrifice in profits, as these tend to have 50%+ 'regulars' who are pro or semi-pro 'grinders' playing 10+ games at once.
Ok, Pokerstars are fantastic for tournaments... and you will need an account there. Hold on for just a moment though – there are some other excellent poker sites to consider!!
Click This Link To Visit Pokerstars.com (New Tab) And See Why This Is The Most Popular Site For Yourself!
(Marketing Code = PSP3108 for your 100% matched welcome bonuses).
Best Online Poker Tournament Sites – PartyPoker.com
Party were the first big poker site and their brand still has a lot of power to attract new players. Think of it this way, when someone who knows nothing about the game thinks of online poker their first thought is often Party Poker – only later will they get to hear about all the other brands. This keeps the games at Party very easy, with more novices than anywhere else the potential for profit is bigger – as long as you can successfully adjust to the 'crazy' fields.
Party have a lot of tournaments on offer, these are focused on NL Holdem and Omaha, with the occasional Stud game too. They are also focused on the lower buy-ins, with a good choice in the $3 to $22 range, though tailing off after this. There are not always enough games to fill the screen for those who like to play 3+ tables at once in similar games / buy-ins... you can either add a second site (Red Kings or Titan for example) for extra games, or compromise and play a turbo rebuy or other 'fun' type game alongside your regular tournaments.
Satellites to the bigger buy-in online tournaments are popular at Party Poker. They feed the big events with sub-qualifiers which require only Party Points or $1, and have several rounds of qualifiers. This keeps the bigger tourneys including the Sunday 200k gtd and Monthly Million easy to beat too – and gives smaller bankrolled players a shot at the big money at the same time.
Recently, Party started their own poker event, a series of tournaments with extra promos and prizes called the 'Online PokerFest'. One thing this site do very well is to look after their existing players with follow up promotions and bonuses – for me this tips the balance from a 'hmmm, almost' to 'worth playing' as far as tournaments go.
Check out Party Poker for yourself here, bonus code SNGPLANET gets you the great 100% welcome bonus match up to $500.
Best Sites For Online Poker Tournaments – Titan Poker
As the biggest site on the huge iPoker Network, the breadth and variety of poker tournaments on offer at Titan Poker is excellent. Add to this the fact that the player base is largely recreational in nature and you will quickly find out just how much more profit you could make by playing in the tournaments at this site.
I have to mention the lack of synchronized breaks here, this is ridiculous to put in mildly with all of the other sites breaking at 5 to the hour... it puts me off of playing more games at Titan, even though I know the fields are softer – and I am certain there are 1000's more players who feel the same!
Great at the lower and mid-range, the tournaments are focused on NL Holdem and Omaha – with rebuys popular. Most start with 1500 chips, making them shallower-stacked than other sites. With so many fish willing to donate you their stacks, chipping up will be surprisingly easy. When it comes to the schedule, it is obvious some thought has gone into grouping games together. This means it is easier to find a small selection of similar games, for example you might choose the $5 freezeout, $5 rebuy and then a $10 freezeout 30 minutes later... In the evenings this works great for lower to mid-level players.
Higher buy-in tournaments are available through the week, with the $200k guaranteed 'showcase' on a Sunday and Mondays featuring a bigger Omaha tournaments. Satellites all follow the same 3-stage system, these are popular and soft enough to make you wonder how so many fish are able to play in one game!!
Titan Poker used to run the European Championship poker event, however this has not run for a while. Plenty of promotions do target MTT players, with a 'buy-in 50%+ off sale', leader board promos and SNG specific offers all in the recent past.
SNG Planet readers can claim a special extra at Titan, $20 free cash on top of the already generous 200% match on your first deposit. All you need to do is deposit a minimum of $30 using our bonus code SNGPLANET – and the extra will be with you within 48 hours.
Click This Link To Check Out Those Titan Poker Fish For Yourself!!
Best Poker Tournaments – CarbonPoker.com
This is the best place to play for US based readers. With a rapidly growing player base there are some decent tournaments on offer these days, though I am sure you understand that there is a long way to go before they match the pre black-Friday sites.
Let me start with the good news. There are already some big guarantees, including the $109 buy-in $100k Sunday event and satellites to live events with $12k+ prizes. In addition you will find a growing 2nd tier, with $22 to $55 events each evening. The mainstay are the $3 to $22 buy-ins with a lot of smaller guarantees (up to $5k) and growing fields. Rebuys, Knockouts and turbo events are all scheduled – along with some Omaha, HORSE and even Badugi.
With so few good options for US players, Carbon have really improved their offerings – I expect bigger events as the player base grows and the extra liquidity allows. With pro grinders now the minority of US players you will be pleasantly surprised by how soft the games are too.
Other benefits include excellent software a good rewards scheme for regular players and plenty of extra bonuses and promotions. As a SNG Planet reader, you can claim a freestate of the art poker calculator + recently increased 200% matched welcome bonus – just use coupon / bonus code CARBONPK. Click Here To Check Out Carbon Poker For Yourself Now!
Best Online Poker Tournaments – RedKings.com (Ongame)
Last in my list (though not least!) is a smaller, yet very cool site on the OnGame Poker Network. Players who enjoy smaller buy-in tournaments (up to $22), yet do not feel like battling through massive fields for hours and hours might like to check out this site.
One thing that stands out is that the Sunday Major at Red Kings has a $300,000 guarantee named ChampionChip – significantly more than some of their larger rival sites. This is fed by numerous satellites. The main reason for playing tournaments here are the smaller guarantees. The $5 through $33 games which run each night with guarantees between $500 and $7500 which are my big tip. With smaller fields often 200 to 300 players, there is enough competition to justify the nice prize pools... yet not so many that you have to survive 10 all-ins just to get close to the final stages like you find at some of the larger sites. The balance is just right and I know that many readers will appreciate this.
Other benefits at Red Kings include great software, a choice of 6 welcome bonuses + a free $11 entry token for the monthly 'Fishmarket' $10k guaranteed tournament. Not strictly for tournaments, if you get dealt the two red kings in a cash game for the first time you get an automatic $300 bonus added to your account!
Worth a look, those smaller field guaranteed games are really very profitable!! Click Here And Choose Your Welcome Bonus Now!
More Great Poker Tournament Articles
Online Poker Tournaments Main - Here you will find a list of the best strategy, guides and reviews covering Multi-Table tournaments.
10 Best Beginner Tournaments - Recently updated, 10 great lower buy-in tournaments, each with a great reason for you to try it!
Poker Satellites - With so many ways to win seats in televised live events, I decided to dedicate a whole section to this subject!
