Cryptocurrency Poker Tournaments
Bitcoin’s surge in popularity over the past couple of years has seen it become a viable alternative currency for online gambling. This is unsurprising: the speed, security and anonymity that blockchain technology provides meant that it was only a matter of time before dedicated Bitcoin gambling sites sprang up and regular gambling sites began adding bitcoin functionality. The online poker industry has been particularly quick to adapt to the new demand for bitcoin games, with sites such as Nitrogen Poker, America’s Cardroom, BetOnline and betcoin offering a range of bitcoin poker games. Tournaments, however, remain far and away the most popular way of playing poker, giving players the opportunity to win large sums of bitcoin for just a small registration fee. We’ve put together a guide to different types of Bitcoin poker tournaments so you can dive right into the action. Most mobile poker rooms now also feature a wide variety of poker tournaments.
HOW BITCOIN TOURNAMENTS WORK
Bitcoin tournaments are exactly the same as regular tournaments, except you’re playing with bitcoin. In a poker tournament, a group of players pay a registration fee which is put towards a prize pool. Players are then each given an arbitrary number of chips to play with. Once their chips have ran out, they are eliminated. Players who finish above a certain position are awarded a cash prize for the efforts, which is known as “cashing”. The higher your position, the larger your cash prize will be, with the top spot usually taking up a sizeable chunk of the total prize pool.
TOURNAMENT TYPES
There are loads of different tournament types available to bitcoin players today. Here is a list of the most popular:
Multi-Table Tournaments
MTT stands for ‘multi-table tournament’. These are the largest tournaments you can play in and have the largest top prizes. Most sites provide guaranteed prize pools in order to attract large fields of players. MTTs take longer than smaller tournaments and are higher variance because it is harder to secure a top place finish. However, they often draw in weaker players who are enticed by the money up top.
Sit & Go Tournaments
Sit & Go’s are smaller tournaments that don’t have a fixed start time. Rather, they start when enough players have registered. They can vary in size from just two players to over a hundred. They’re a good place to start if you want to see more consistent returns on your money.
Bounty
Bounty tournaments are a very popular variant in which a part of each player’s registration fee goes towards their bounty. If you knock out a player, you win their bounty. In a progressive bounty tournament, half of each bounty a player wins gets added to their own bounty. This means that players can end up with huge bounties on their heads, which affects how opponents play against them.
Satellite
In satellite tournaments, the prize pool is replaced by tickets to more expensive tournaments. This allows players a shot at playing tournaments they otherwise may not be able to afford. Chris Moneymaker, the player credited with starting the mid-2000s poker boom, won the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million after buying a satellite ticket for just $86!
TOURNAMENT STRATEGY
Although correct strategy will differ based on the type of tournament you are playing, there are a few fundamentals which will help you in all types of tournament. In general, you want to play more conservative in the early stages of the tournament. However, if things go well and you find yourself playing a very large stack, you can capitalize on this by using your stack to “bully” smaller stacks and pick up chips. You can do this by raising more hands pre-flop and being more aggressive post-flop. Don’t go to crazy though: you don’t want to put too much of your stack at risk if you don’t have to. If, on the other hand, you find yourself with a stack of ten big blinds or less, its best to be more aggressive pre-flop by going all-in if you pick up a decent hand. This means you won’t have to play post-flop with an awkward stack size.
Tournaments are seen as being easier to beat than cash games, because they attract a lot of unskilled players. If you stick to these fundamentals and keep a cool head at the table, you’ll have no problem making bitcoin in the long run.
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HOW BITCOIN TOURNAMENTS WORK
Bitcoin tournaments are exactly the same as regular tournaments, except you’re playing with bitcoin. In a poker tournament, a group of players pay a registration fee which is put towards a prize pool. Players are then each given an arbitrary number of chips to play with. Once their chips have ran out, they are eliminated. Players who finish above a certain position are awarded a cash prize for the efforts, which is known as “cashing”. The higher your position, the larger your cash prize will be, with the top spot usually taking up a sizeable chunk of the total prize pool.
TOURNAMENT TYPES
There are loads of different tournament types available to bitcoin players today. Here is a list of the most popular:
Multi-Table Tournaments
MTT stands for ‘multi-table tournament’. These are the largest tournaments you can play in and have the largest top prizes. Most sites provide guaranteed prize pools in order to attract large fields of players. MTTs take longer than smaller tournaments and are higher variance because it is harder to secure a top place finish. However, they often draw in weaker players who are enticed by the money up top.
Sit & Go Tournaments
Sit & Go’s are smaller tournaments that don’t have a fixed start time. Rather, they start when enough players have registered. They can vary in size from just two players to over a hundred. They’re a good place to start if you want to see more consistent returns on your money.
Bounty
Bounty tournaments are a very popular variant in which a part of each player’s registration fee goes towards their bounty. If you knock out a player, you win their bounty. In a progressive bounty tournament, half of each bounty a player wins gets added to their own bounty. This means that players can end up with huge bounties on their heads, which affects how opponents play against them.
Satellite
In satellite tournaments, the prize pool is replaced by tickets to more expensive tournaments. This allows players a shot at playing tournaments they otherwise may not be able to afford. Chris Moneymaker, the player credited with starting the mid-2000s poker boom, won the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $2.5 million after buying a satellite ticket for just $86!
TOURNAMENT STRATEGY
Although correct strategy will differ based on the type of tournament you are playing, there are a few fundamentals which will help you in all types of tournament. In general, you want to play more conservative in the early stages of the tournament. However, if things go well and you find yourself playing a very large stack, you can capitalize on this by using your stack to “bully” smaller stacks and pick up chips. You can do this by raising more hands pre-flop and being more aggressive post-flop. Don’t go to crazy though: you don’t want to put too much of your stack at risk if you don’t have to. If, on the other hand, you find yourself with a stack of ten big blinds or less, its best to be more aggressive pre-flop by going all-in if you pick up a decent hand. This means you won’t have to play post-flop with an awkward stack size.
Tournaments are seen as being easier to beat than cash games, because they attract a lot of unskilled players. If you stick to these fundamentals and keep a cool head at the table, you’ll have no problem making bitcoin in the long run.
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