[Nov,19,2010] Pokerstar Poker Tournaments

SIT & GO

A ‘Sit & Go’ (S&G or SNG) is a tournament which does not have a pre-assigned start time; it simply begins when all the seats are filled. There are many types of Sit & Go, ranging in size from heads-up to 360 players, in both satellite and cash tournament form.  These tournaments can be found by clicking on the ‘Sit & Go’ tab in the main client lobby window.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING

‘Double or Nothing’ is a type of Sit & Go tournament.  In a Double or Nothing Sit & Go tournament, half of the players who enter win double the buy-in. For example, in a $10+$1 tournament with ten entrants, the top five finishers win $20, and the 6th-10th finishers will win nothing. The tournament ends when the prizes are reached, with all winners tying for first place. (For that reason, Double or Nothing tournaments are not eligible for any tournament leader board points). You can find Double or Nothing tournaments under ‘Sit & Go’ and ‘1-Table’ in the PokerStars lobby.

STEPS

‘Steps’ are a special ‘tiered’ type of Sit & Go tournament. By playing in Steps tournaments, you can turn a small investment into a large prize by working your way up from the lowest step to the highest step. Entry to the Steps system starts from just $7.50, €2.20 or 500 Frequent Player Points (FPP), and you work your way up the ladder to win prizes worth thousands!

Even if you don’t advance to the next level in a particular Step tournament, you can win a chance to play again at the same level, or the one below. You can also buy in directly to any Step tournament at any level, or jump off the step ladder into certain regular tournaments using a Step 4 ticket.

To register for Steps tournaments, select the ‘Sit & Go’, ‘Satellite’ and then ‘Steps’ tabs in the PokerStars lobby.

MULTI-TABLE TOURNAMENTS

In a multi-table tournament (MTT), players start with an equal, fixed number of chips. Players at numerous tables compete for one another's chips as the blinds and/or antes increase incrementally. When you run out of chips, you are eliminated from the tournament. As players are eliminated, tables are ‘broken’, meaning players are moved to keep tables full, or evenly ‘balanced’. Eventually, the last few surviving players with chips are brought together at the final table, where the winner is the individual who wins all the chips from his or her opponents. Cash prizes are awarded to top finishers on the basis of number of tournament entries.

SHOOTOUTS

A shootout is a special kind of multi-table tournament. Normally, when you play in a multi-table tournament, players are moved from table to table to balance the number of players at each table. Eventually, the last remaining players end up at the ‘final table.’ In a shootout, no such table balancing is done. You remain at your original table until only one player is left standing. If you win that table, you advance to another table and repeat the process against players who each won their first table.

In a DOUBLE SHOOTOUT, you need to win two tables to win the event, although often there is some money for everybody who reaches the final table. Each starting table is played to its conclusion; the final table is formed of the winners of the first round matches. For example, a full Stud Double Shootout might start with 8 full tables, a total of 64 players, in Round 1.  Each of those 8 tables would play down to one winner, and the 8 winners would then be brought to a second table for Round 2, where they would play until there is one winner.

In a TRIPLE SHOOTOUT, you must win three tables to win the entire event (again, there may well be some prize money distributed along the way). For example, assuming a standard (9 players per table) triple shootout is full, in Round 1 the 729 players will be placed, 9 per table, at 81 tables within the tournament. Each table will play until there is one player remaining with all of the chips from that table. The 81 remaining players will then be moved to 9 tables for Round 2. As in Round 1, each table will play until one player has all of the chips from their table. Finally, the 9 remaining players will advance to the final table for Round 3, where the Champion of the tournament shall be determined.

Note that this whole process could be extended to quadruple shootouts and on up. Also, the tables don't necessarily have to start at nine players each. For instance, in the past we have offered triple shootouts with four-player tables (a total of 64 players in each event).  Also note that if a shootout is not filled to capacity when it begins, some of the tables in Round 1 could have more players than others.  Late registration is not available in shootout tournaments.

SATELLITES

A satellite is a tournament in which the prize is an entry into a larger tournament. It can be less expensive to enter a satellite than it would be to enter the main tournament directly. PokerStars runs one-table and multi-table Sit & Go satellites, which you can find under ‘Sit & Go’ and ‘Satellite’ in the PokerStars lobby.  Multi-table satellites also are scheduled as regular tournaments, and the sign-up details and play are identical to other multi-table tournaments, with one important difference – the tournament will only play down to the number required to award all of the equal-value seats. You can find these MTT events under ‘Tourney’ and ‘Satellite’ in the main PokerStars lobby. An example of how a satellite works:

The buy-in for the larger tournament is $200. The buy-in for the satellite is $20. If there are 10 entrants (into the satellite), first place will get a $200 entry to the larger tournament. If there are 20 entrants, then 1st and 2nd places will both receive a $200 entry to the larger tournament. If there is any leftover prize money, it will be distributed to the runners up as per the satellite’s payout structure, which is available through the tournament lobby.

If there is a fee to enter either a tournament or satellite, it will be denoted by stating the buy-in amount and the entry fee. A cost of ‘$30+$3’ indicates that the buy-in is $30, and the entry fee is $3. The $30 goes to the prize pool which the players compete for, while the $3 entry fee is taken as compensation for hosting the tournament.  In most tournaments which are named, the buy-in and fee is combined for the sake of brevity in the title.  For example, the above mentioned tournament, if it is a satellite to the Sunday Million (for example), would likely be named ‘Sunday Million: $33 satellite’.  Detailed information on the breakdown of buy-in plus entry fee is shown in the tournament lobby.

REBUY TOURNAMENTS

A rebuy tournament is one in which you have the opportunity to buy more chips during the event. In a standard ‘freezeout’ tournament, when you run out of chips, you're out of the tournament. In a rebuy tournament, you can (with some restrictions) buy more chips.

Here are some facts about rebuy tournaments:

• There is a ‘rebuy period’ at the beginning of the tournament. A typical rebuy period might be the first hour of the event (until the first break starts). Once that period is over, no more rebuys are permitted.
• During the rebuy period, there may be a fixed number of rebuys available, or an unlimited number.
• If you run completely out of chips, you will automatically be offered a rebuy (if one is available). At any time when you have chips, you can click on the dealer tray and select the ‘Add More Chips’ option to rebuy. If you're not eligible for a rebuy (because you've reached the maximum number of rebuys, or because there is a maximum number of chips where rebuys are allowed), you'll get a message to that effect.
  
  In general, you may rebuy using the ‘Add More Chips’ button in the dealer tray any time your stack is less than or equal to the starting chip stack. This means you can rebuy once before the tournament even starts!
  
  The rebuy may cost any amount, but generally costs the same as the original buy-in, and gets you the same number of chips that you got for your original buy-in.
• There may also be an ‘add-on’ available at the end of the rebuy period. Typically this will be during the first break. An add-on is just one extra rebuy. The add-on will not be automatically offered to you. To take the add-on, wait for the message that ‘Players are now on break’. Click on the dealer tray and select the ‘Add More Chips’ option. In general, the add-on is available no matter how many chips you have.
  
  The add-on may cost any amount, but generally costs the same as the original buy-in, and gets you the same, or higher number of chips that you got for your original buy-in. Rebuys are not charged a rake. So if a rebuy tournament has a buy-in of $10+$1, then the rebuys will usually be $10 and all $10 of each rebuy will go into the prize pool. The prize pool and payoffs will not be announced until the rebuy period ends, since the prize pool increases with each rebuy.
  

Note that many of the rules described above are ‘typical’ or ‘normal.’ PokerStars will make every effort to clearly state any deviations from typical rules, but the exact details for each tournament will always be posted in the tournament's lobby or under the ‘Tournament Info’ tab in that lobby.

BOUNTY TOURNAMENTS

In bounty tournaments, a special cash prize is awarded to the person who eliminates a particular player. For example, if there is a bounty on the head of ‘KidPoker’, whoever eliminates him wins an extra prize, ranging from a couple of bucks to hundreds of dollars, depending on the tournament!

PokerStars offers three types of bounty tournament:

• Fixed: There is a bounty on the head of one or more ‘marked’ players. These players are designated in the tournament lobby with a ‘target’ symbol’. Hover over that target symbol with your mouse to see the amount of the bounty. Eliminate the marked player to win the bounty!
• Team Pro: There is a bounty on the head of every member of Team Pro who enters the tournament. Eliminate any pro (marked with a red spade symbol at the table and in the tournament lobby) to claim their bounty!
• Knockout: There is a bounty on the head of every player in the tournament.

You can quickly find bounty tournaments in the PokerStars lobby by looking for the appropriate symbol. Those with a black ‘crosshair’ symbol are knockout tournaments, those with a black ‘target’ are fixed bounty tournaments, and those with a red ‘target’ are Team Pro bounty tournaments.

KNOCKOUTS

In Knockout tournaments, a cash bounty is placed on every entrant in the tournament. Every time you eliminate somebody, you win a cash prize!

In a knockout tournament, every player pays an extra buy-in, which serves as that player’s bounty. For example, a knockout tournament might have a total buy-in of $20+$5+$2, of which $20 goes into the regular prize pool, $5 is each player’s bounty, and $2 is the tournament fee.

You can find knockout tournaments in the lobby, marked with a black ‘crosshair’ symbol – or type ‘knockout’ into the tournament filter to quickly find what you’re looking for!

DEEP STACKS

You will often see a tournament in the lobby labelled as a ‘Deep Stacks’ event. This indicates that each player starts with more chips than usual.

The starting stack in most Deep Stacks events is 5,000 chips. The blinds are normally the same as a regular PokerStars tournament, thus giving each player more play throughout the event.

In addition to a deeper-than-normal starting stack, most Deep Stacks events have 30-minute intervals for each level. The normal interval between changes in levels on PokerStars is 15 minutes. Lengthening the levels in Deep Stacks events is another way of providing a lot of play, particularly in the early stages of the tournament.

You can find Deep Stacks events in the lobby; the words ‘Deep Stacks’ should be in the name.

6-MAX and 4-MAX

‘6-max’ in the tournament's title indicates that at each table there will be 6 seats, instead of the usual 7 to 10 (depending on the game). PokerStars also offers 4-max events with 4 seats at each table.

Some poker variations are always played with 6 or fewer seats at the table. Examples are 8-Game Mix and Deuce to Seven (2-7) Triple Draw.

TURBO

A turbo event is one in which the blind levels increase much faster than in standard play. The length of each round (before the blinds/antes increase) in a turbo tournament is usually 5 minutes (as opposed to the standard 10 or 15), though there are some turbo events with 6-minute rounds.

Turbo rebuy events usually go on break at 30 minutes, as opposed to 60 minutes in a standard rebuy event.

HYPER-TURBO

A hyper-turbo event is one in which the blind levels increase extremely quickly – even faster than in a turbo tournament. The length of each round (before the blinds/antes increase) in a hyper-turbo tournament is usually 3 minutes and the number of starting chips is typically 300 chips or less - significantly lower than other tournament types.

Hyper-Turbo satellites are a great way to quickly win your seat in an event just a few minutes before it begins!

2X-TURBO (& 3X-TURBO)

A 2x-turbo tournament is a special kind of turbo rebuy tournament (usually a satellite) in which the levels increase at turbo speed, but the rebuy time is twice as long as it would be in a normal turbo rebuy. Similarly, a 3x-turbo has three times the normal amount of rebuy time. The available chips – including the starting stack, rebuy, and add-on – are tailored to each event.  Be sure to check under the ‘Tournament Info’ button for detailed structure info.

GUARANTEED TOURNAMENTS

In many of our cash tournaments, the prize pool is guaranteed to reach a specific amount. Regular guarantees range from $1,000 to $1,500,000 or more! To see the full range of these tournaments, visit the ‘Tourney’ and ‘All’ lobby and enter the word ‘guarantee’ in the tournament filter.