Tournament Poker - Entry Fees, Buy Ins and Prize Pools

Tournament poker is an event where players compete with one another by playing poker. Tournaments vary in size and structure. You can find anywhere from a dozen to thousands of players in a single event, and the prizes can be two digits or in the millions. Here is a basic outline of how the money works in them.

Joining a tournament

Tournament poker can be either open or invitational. Typically, a tournament requires each player to pay an entry fee before they can join the tourney. This fee is the actual buy in for the tournament plus the hosting body's commission for hosting the event. In poker, you have to "buy in" to a table with a predetermined amount before you can sit down and play. In a tournament, it is the same thing. This money is used to fund the prize pool which is what will be paid out to the top player(s) after the event. The host's rake or commission is about 10% of the buy in. So if the buy in for a poker tournament is $1,000, you have to pay $1,100 total.

Big-time tournaments have high entry fees. If a player cannot afford to pay the fee, he or she can qualify by winning a satellite event. Some qualifiers have gone on to win major tournaments in recent years. Satellite events may be either online or offline (live) types.

Another kind of tournament poker is freerolls. Freerolls are tourneys that have no entry fees. The prize money is funded by sponsors of the event or the host. Prizes in freerolls are usually smaller than in "real" tournaments but make good practice ground for developing players. Casino patrons may receive invitations to join freerolls as a reward for their loyalty as well.

Prize money in tournaments

The more players that join in a poker tournament, the bigger the total prize money gets. The total prizes are referred to as the prize pool. It is computed as: prizes = (buy in * number of players). This amount excludes the entry fee, of course, since that goes to the host.

In tournament poker, prize distribution may be either fixed or proportional.

- Fixed. Prize amounts are set. Players are paid according to their rank. Usually only the top finalists receive money. For example, in a $1,000 tournament, the winner may get $500, the runner-up $300 and the third placer $200.

- Proportional. Who gets paid and how much depends on how many people end up joining the poker tournament. The more players that join, the more that will be paid. So the prize pool becomes more and more fragmented.

For example, if only 10 players join, the prize pool may be divided among the top 3 finishers only. Say: 50% to 1st place, 30% to 2nd place and 20% to 3rd place; the rest get nothing. But if there are hundreds of players, the prize pool may be split among the top 10 finishers. The winner may receive 26%, runner-up 15% and so on down the list with number 10 getting perhaps 2% of the total prize pool.