Best US Site For Poker Tournaments
Here I Compare The Options For Real-Money Online Poker Tournaments Still Available To US Players
** Big Update Oct 14th - Carbon Poker are now accepting US players again and are a clear leader for tournaments - I have update this page to reflect this! **
Well, the Sunday Million may be out of bounds – though there are still a number of smaller online poker tournaments to choose from for US readers. This article gives you an overview of what is available on different sites.
With the Merge Network about to re-open to new US sign-ups I expect to have to rewrite this article soon. Since it is aimed at new players seeking information about what is available. The Merge Network (Carbon Poker are the biggest site there) have now started accepting new US players again - though there are restrictions on certain states (New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Washington, Missouri and Louisiana. are excluded for now). Since this site has the biggest pool of players the tournaments are naturally bigger and better - so this article has a major update, displacing Bodog and Cake from the top spots!
I have divided this article into 3 sections, first the ‘majors’ which are the biggest regular guaranteed events – usually on Sundays – are covered. Next the mid-range tournaments, with buyins between $11 and $55, and then finally the micros. This article is part of a series of 4 which will cover all the different types of online poker – you can see the list of these on my main US Friendly Poker Sites page.
Best Online Poker Tournaments For US Players – Sunday Guarantees - The Biggest Games
 Carbon Poker are a clear leader here with their Sunday guarantee having a prize pool of $100k guaranteed - this is a $109 entry event and there is a big focus on satellite qualifiers running up to the 15:00 (server time) start. If you were used to the old Sunday Majors you will find the field in this one noticably softer - and as it gets more popular the money you can win gets more and more tempting!! Carbon also run a $12k guaranteed Saturday event, and offer qualifiers to live events which have $12k+ prize packages too. Check out the excellent selection of tournaments at Carbon Poker via this link - bonus / coupon code SNGPLANET gets you a 200% match on your first deposit + free $11 SNG Entry too!
US Online Poker Tournaments – Mid Buy-Ins, The $11 To $55 Range
A little more choice as we get into the $11+ buy-in range – including a lot of ‘smaller guarantees’ at bothBodog and Cake especially. Smaller fields than many will be used to, 200 players is considered busy for most of these tournaments, and outside of the guaranteed prize pools and lower end of these buy-ins you will often be facing less than 100 opponents.
Again Carbon Poker trump both of these sites with the best selection and variety of tournaments for US players. I'll add the quick note that if you were used to multi-tabling the $11 to $55 games then the best solution is to have accounts at 2 or even all 3 of the leading US sites. Carbon have bounty tournaments, shootouts, a selection of PLO and rebuy / turbo games too. Guarantees between $750 and $2500 are spread throughout the day, with bigger evening and weekend guarantees available too.
Finally to note the standard of play, the pro grinders of old are a minority these days, with most people playing for fun and relaxation - you can see the difference from the tables. I'm recommending Carbon strongly as #1 for mid buy-in tournaments, see you at the tables soon!
200% Match + Free $11 SNG Token With My Bonus Code = SNGPLANET
US Online Poker Tournaments Guide – Smaller Buy-In Events
Once we get to the $10 and under buy-in range, then the options open up a lot. Doyle’s room are strong (players will shortly play under the Americas Cardroom brand), Everleaf’s Luvin poker are cool for the $3 and under games and the ‘larger’ US sites have a wide choice and largest fields.
On balance Carbon get my vote once again... however I want this page to cover all of the sites and not just how great the tournaments on the Merge Network are... so I'll flag Cake Poker as a decent alternative! Cake offer a nice selection of smaller buy in tournaments, along with the occasional $33+ games. One part of their loyalty program is 'Gold Chips' which can be used for entry into tournaments with some great prize pools an small fields, you earn the points through real money play in cash games and tourneys / SNGs. You can check out Cake Poker for yourself by clicking this link!
Here are my reviews of the leading US facing sites in 2011
Don't forget to bookmark this page now - I'll update on the US scene as soon as any news comes in (and hopefully Merge will come back very soon!) |
