Poker is a classic card game that’s been around for 100s of years. Many debates it originated from a French game called Poque, while others believe seven-card stud was the game that gave birth to the modern poker game.
This style of casino game is different to others like Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette, and Slots. In these titles, players are competing against the casino, while in poker, people play against each other. For this reason, poker can be considered a game of skill, with elements of timing, technique, and strategy playing an important part.
Online poker rooms make money by taking their cut (rake) from cash games, and a buy-in fee from Sit & Go and MTT Tournaments. For example, a $100 tournament might cost $110 buy-in, with the extra $10 going to the casino for hosting the event.
Almost every modern player kickstarts their gaming journey with a card game. With the wide range of casino games available, it’s very easy for you to start low and gradually work your way up. However, if you are a player who has reached higher levels in the game, you might want to try your luck in the most prestigious tournaments. In this article, we have listed some of the best online poker tournaments you should watch out for in 2021.
The largest poker rooms are known to offer the best tournaments. The top websites for tournaments are also the biggest poker sites around the world.
In this post, we have also described the pros and cons of this popular game hosted by the best casino sites. This will help you make informed decisions on where you choose to play.
What Is A Poker Multi-Table Tournament?
Online poker is a type of card game that can be played in various ways. When most people think of poker, they visualize the typical cash games, with money being thrown into the middle of the table. However, online poker tournaments vary significantly from standard cash games.
When someone signs up to play an online poker tournament, they pay a fee, known as the Buy-In. This is an upfront cost that gives a player entry to the tournament event. Once signed up, they are provided with a starting stack of chips. All players in the tournament start with the same stack size, ensuring fairness.
The main difference between poker cash games and tournaments is re-entry. If you play a cash game and lose your funds, you can simply add more and continue playing. Poker tournaments typically allow one entry, so if you lose your chip stack in a tourney, you will be booted from the competition. There are certain styles of tournament series that allow re-buys/add-ons, which means you can lose, and buy back into the competition.
In a multi-table poker tournament, there are 100s, even 1000s of players that compete. To spread the action, the poker room assigns multiple tables with 6-9 players on each. When players lose and leave the event, the computer assigns new & existing players to other tables to balance the competition. This continues until there is only one table left, the final table.
The final table is the holy grail for all online poker tournament players, and this is where the serious prize money can be won. Each step that you level up on the final table boosts your overall win significantly, with the first prize paying the best ROI.
All the players who finish under the lowest-paid slot (for instance in 100 players tournaments, all the players finishing from 100th to 11th) leave these tournaments with just a story. The buy-ins for poker tournaments run from just a few pennies up to $1,000,000 – which is the most expensive tournament around the world!
1. The India Online Poker Championship
Poker online is currently blowing up in India. The nation has produced many poker stars like Aditya Agarwal, Nipun Java, and Vivek Rajkumar, most of whom have over time accumulated over $1,000,000 in earnings. Today, more Indians are playing online poker than ever before, thanks to the growing gambling arena. Indians love placing real money bets on everything from sports to poker, and the market is quite saturated that they need more betting sites to help them have a wide range of options. They can choose a website based on their favourite casino games or the available bonuses. Considering that the gambling industry is estimated to be worth about $1.1B, players will find it very useful to improve their betting strategy and consider different aspects like payment options.
Besides the number of people that want to take part in the tournament, there are many more that are interested in spectating these games. Essentially, the biggest tournament is India Online Poker Championship (IOPC) that happens each year. The poker series that begins in January, has a guaranteed cash prize of 28 crores. There are different high roller tournaments alongside the main event, and people that prefer to watch the games can enjoy live streaming these events.
2. World Series of Poker (WSOP) Winter Online Circuit
The WSOP hosts many events and the most recent version is the Winter Online Circuit. This started at the backend of 2020 and will definitely continue through January 2021. There are about 18 tournaments that have been announced lately and the winner receives a World Series of Poker ring.
The greatest attraction in the World Series of Poker Winter Online Circuit to look out for is the primary event that was scheduled for 10th January. The buy-in for this was $1,700 and the winning player gets a chance to receive $10,000,000. These tournaments give potential players a great platform upon which they can gain more recognition in this industry.
3. Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP)
The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has been around since 2009 and seems to get bigger each year. It’s one of the most popular gaming events in the poker calendar because of the number of events available, alongside the mouth-watering prize fund.
The previous 2020 SCOOP featured over 65 events with buy-ins ranging from $5 to $55,000. The price flexibility is what makes it more accessible to players of different budget levels and abilities. In 2020’s main event, Alexgirs, a Belarus based player, won the tournament and walked away with $920,596. Technically, SCOOP has allowed many players that only exists in the online circuits to earn more and has ultimately helped them reach higher prowess levels.
4. World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)
You have most likely heard about WCOOP. Commonly known as the World Championship of Online Poker, this is one of the major series that runs longest. This amazing event is well known across the globe for its diversity and abundance. There are over 100 different tournaments, feature many variations of poker.
For any player interested in trying out other games rather than Texas Hold’em, WCOOP offers 5 Card Draw, Fixed Limit Omaha, Razz, and other variations. Also, this competition is open to almost anyone, with buy-ins for some of the tournaments having been set as low as just $2. Also, other astonishing prizes are available, with luck players taking home over $1 million in previous years.
If you have just started, the best thing you can do is stick to the small tournaments at the top poker sites. However, if you want to move to the high levels and start playing against other well established and experienced players, trying out any of the online poker tournaments listed here will be a good decision.
Benefits & Why Online Poker Tournaments Have Become So Popular
Tournaments have been a major aspect for many years. Every other weekend, players find themselves looking for marquee final tables with hopes of adding a substantial amount of money to their budget. Every once in a while, the lucky player walks away with life-changing sums of money.
There are excellent benefits to playing online poker tourneys compared to other styles of games. With so many players competing in the industry, there has never been a better time for gamers to satellite their way into huge prize pool tourneys with a little upfront cost. This lets players potentially compete in million-dollar events for buy-ins less than $10!
The main benefits of a tourney are that there is only one entry fee, and everyone starts with the same stack size. If you maintain your chip stack and play a good game, you can build your balance and beat out other players. This is where learning a solid poker strategy really pays off.
MTT tournaments also spread the movement of players, making it easier to avoid sharks, and helpful in finding opponents classed as fish. This is ideal for strategic players looking for easy targets and taking their chips.
Following are some of the reasons why tournaments have increasingly become popular.
Potential for Big Winnings
Although many players consider the ability to win big as one of the main reasons they chose to play at tournaments, recreational players look for online tournaments due to the low monetary investment required to enter as compared to the ability to win huge cash prizes.
Also, this applies to live tournaments, however, the top poker sites host major events each week which offer players with a smaller bankroll the chance to move up the ladder to a high payoff table that can result in huge winnings.
The allure of beating other players and winning life-changing sums of money is what attracts many players to multi-table tournaments. Also, if you play poker online, you will find free tournaments also known as freerolls that can help you with real money prizes as you learn more about the game.
Consistent Rake Rates
Poker online tournaments, especially in their traditional format, continue to provide easy to learn rake rates that have remained the same for many years. Essentially, this has allowed gamblers of different skill levels to familiarize themselves with the fee percentages charged by the poker sites, and easily know how much of the investment would be allocated to the real prize pool.
Multi-table tournaments on different sites charge players a 100% fee to enter the low stakes events – like $10+$1 tournaments and take a small percentage as the buy-ins increase (for instance: $1000+$50, $500+$30, and $100+$9).
Reduction in the cashback rewards by poker sites like PokerStars have significantly affected tournament players, yet the base fees for the non-gimmick Multi-table tournaments have remained unchanged from the mid-2000s.
Online Poker Tournaments are More Convenient
The Internet is widely known for convenience, and tournaments are not an exception. Although many live events depend on local attendance to fill the seats, poker enthusiasts can fire up different events from their mobile device or laptop and compete for huge winnings from the comfort of their living rooms.
The increased popularity of online poker can be attributed to convenience, particularly since many poker sites accepts deposit and withdrawals from major credit cards, online wallets as well as cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
For-Profit Opportunities
As you already know, online multi-table tournaments are some of the softest formats available. Tournaments demand the use of different strategies based on escalating cash prizes, approaching bubbles, and chip counts, that many players don’t adjust properly too.
So, if you are looking for a more profitable gaming experience, you should try to learn some poker strategies that you can rely on to improve your chances of winning.
The Biggest Poker Tournaments Online
We’ve searched online to find the sites that provide the biggest poker tournament prize pools for players to win in 2021 and beyond. These brands are famous in many regions, and offer action 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Poker Stars
Poker Stars is the leading online poker site in the world. The brand has achieved many records over the years for player numbers, tournament entries, prize pools, and some of the biggest poker winners online. Players can compete in a staggering amount of multi table tournaments here, with $100’s of millions in prizes each year!
Poker Stars hold the current record for the biggest online poker tournament, which took place in 2013. They hosted a $1 entry tournament that got over 225,000 people competing for over $300K in prizes! The brand is famous for its signature weekly tournament with $1,000,000 in guaranteed prizes awaiting card players. We’ve listed the main Poker Stars tournament series and their details below.
Summer Series: Summer poker tourney with 166 events. Over $25,000,000 prize pool. Buy ins range from $11 – $530, with the main event offering a GTD prize of $1,000,000-$2,000,000.SCOOP: Spring Championship Of Online Poker. Over 65 events with a total prize pool reaching up to $100,000,000. Buy-ins vary from $5 – $50,000. The main event has a whopping $11,500,00 prize pool up for grabs.TCOOP: Turbo Championship Of Online Poker. 100+ events with $25+ Million in prizes. Buy-ins range from $11 – $1050. The main event offers $3,000,000 in prizes.WCOOP: World Championship Of Online Poker. 100s of events totaling up to $100,000,000 in prizes. Buy ins range from $2.2 – $25,000. The main events have $1,000,000 & $10,000,000 GTD prize pools.Micro Millions: Small stakes million dollar series. 120 events with a total of $1,000,000+ in prizes. Entry ranges from $1.1 – $11. The main event offers $1,000,000 GTD, with $100,000 for 1st place.
Party Poker
Party Poker is another leading online poker room with a long history. The brand runs many poker tournament series, with millions in prizes attracting gamers from around the world. Each week, they hold a $250K GTD Sunday tournament, offering excellent value for players. The brand is famous for running some of the best online poker tournaments with huge prize pools.
Party Poker Power Fest: Huge MTT series with 250 events. Massive prize pool ranging from $20,000,000 – $30,000,000. Players can buy in from $5.5 – $25,000, and compete in a mix of game styles like Knockout, Turbo, 6max, 8max, and Deep stack.Party Poker Millions: Annual tournament series with 250 events offering up to $20,000,000 in guaranteed prizes for lucky players.Party Poker Monster Series: 4 MTT tournaments with over $2,000,000 in prizes. Buy ins are affordable, ranging from $0.11 – $55.
GG Poker
GG Poker is a newer player in the poker scene and has a strong presence in Asia. Recently, the site has ramped up its action and started offering million dollar tournaments. This is on top of the GG Masters, a weekly MTT tournament with $500K in guaranteed prizes. The buy-in costs $150, and satellites to the event start at $1.50. GG Poker now hosts three weekly million dollar tournaments across different time zones for players to win big.
Zodiac Millions: ¥1,000,000 Prize Pool – Buy in = ¥500Global Millions: $1,000,000 Prize Pool – Buy in = $100High Roller Millions: $2,000,000 Prize Pool – Buy in = $500
888 Poker
888 Poker is a leading casino and poker brand listed on the London Stock Exchange. The site is excellent for recreational poker players with a host of cash games, sit & gos, jackpots, and an awesome line up of MTT tournaments.
Currently, they offer a weekly Whale tournament with over $250K in prizes and a $530 entry fee, plus a $100,00 weekly main event. They also run various satellites so players can gain entry to high roller events for cheap. The main series this brand runs are called the XL Blizzard and Inferno. With 35 events, $1,500,000+ in prizes, and buy-ins ranging from $5.5 – $320. The main event features a prize pool of $500,000 guaranteed.
Americas Card Room
Every Sunday America’s Card Room runs a popular weekly million dollar tournament. This event has a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1,000,000, and the first place prize reaches over $100,000! This is one of the largest tournaments online in 2021 for Aussie and USA poker players.
The entry cost is $215 to buy straight in, and players can re-buy if they lose their chips. Satellites on ACR run daily, starting at $1.10, and provide card players with the chance to win tickets worth $55, $109, $215, etc. for entry into high payout events.
Ignition Casino Poker
Ignition Casino is a smaller poker room, but common among players in Australia and the United States of America. Every week, they hold tournaments with over $1,500,000 in prizes. This includes their main $100,000 GTD weekly event with a $150 buy-in and smaller satellites available to win entry. This site also boasts an impressive online casino packed with table games like Baccarat, Blackjack, Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker and Jackpot Slots.
Conclusion
By examining the sites listed above, anyone can sign up and start playing online poker tournaments with millions in prizes. The top sites like Poker Stars, Party Poker and 888 Poker have certain country restrictions. So for players in Australia, the USA and other regulated regions, Ignition and America’s Card Room are the best places to play these types of high paying tourneys.
