Explanation Tournaments

• Prime Poker Tournaments
• Multi Table Tournaments
• Buy in and Fee
• Starting Chips
• Starting Chips Bonus!
• Satellites - Tickets & Qualifiers
• Free Rolls and Added Cash
• Scheduled Tournaments
• Sit & Go
• Re-buy and Add-on
• Hand by Hand
• Blind Increase
• Registering
• Tournament payout structure

Prime Poker Tournaments

So you think you're good at poker? How about proving it in one of our Prime Poker Tournaments?

Tournaments are played by a group of players who all pay a fixed buy-in and fee to a pool (see section below); this pool is used to pay out the winner(s). All players receive the same number of chips and play until they’ve won all the other players chips – or until they’ve lost all of their own.

The tournament winner is the player who finishes the game with all the chips.

Unlike traditional ring games, the only risk in tournament play is limited to the initial sign-up fee. With only this amount to gamble, tournament gaming makes a great way to experience the potentially lucrative thrill of real money poker!

Top of page

Multi-Table Tournaments

Tournaments are played simultaneously on multiple tables, unless the tournament is very small in numbers. When players are eliminated from the tournament, in order to keep balanced numbers, players are moved to other tables so as not to spoil the enjoyment. When enough seats become free a whole table will be removed, until only one table remains…this table includes the winner.

Top of page

Buy in and Fee

To enter a tournament the player must pay the buy-in (this amount goes into the prize pool!) and the fee for hosting the tournament. There is no rake in tournament hands.

Top of page

Starting Chips

After you’ve posted your buy-in and fee, each player receives a number of chips to start the tournament. The number of initial chips may vary from tournament to tournament but is usually around 1,500.

Top of page

Starting Chips Bonus

In selected special tournaments, it’s possible you could be awarded bonus starting chips. These are added to the players starting chip stack.

Top of page

Satellites - Tickets & Qualifiers

For your chance to win the big prizes, you can play in the big tournaments through qualifying satellite games. In winning these tournaments you can then join the really high stakes tournaments for just a few dollars.

In these qualifier tournaments, instead of cash prizes, the winner is awarded tickets to another tournament. The ticket is valid as a buy-in, so no extra fee is necessary.

There are different qualifier tournaments with different buy-ins. The number of tickets awarded depends on the buy-in and the cost of the ticket for the final. E.g. in the $11+$1 Grand Prix Qualifier, there will be a ticket for every 10 participants. (Ticket prize of $100+$8)

Aside from the pure qualifiers, where all the prize pool goes to qualifying tickets, some other tournaments also award tickets beside the cash prizes.

To play in these tournaments you will need a ticket. These are either transparently bought when registering or can be awarded as a prize in a previous tournament or some kind of promotion. This way a chain of qualification tournaments can be created, so that a very healthily accumulated prize pool is available at the end.

All tickets have an expiry period, which varies and is displayed in the information regarding the tournaments. To start with, the tournament will have a long expiration time to let players find the correct tournaments.

The tournaments, to which you have a ticket, are denoted with an arrow in the tournament list in the client.

Top of page

Free Rolls and Added Cash ­ a little extra from Prime Poker

To add a little spice to your Prime Poker experience we introduce on occasions what is called a ‘free-roll’. A free-roll tournament is a tournament with prize money, which is absolutely free to join! These events help players hone in on their tournament tactics, or perhaps try a tournament for the first time.

Free-rolls are generally extremely popular and you should register quickly to avoid disappointment.

Added Cash: An added cash tournament is a tournament with prize money added by Prime Poker on top of the regular prize pool! This is a bonus for the participating players. The added cash can be distributed between all the cash winners, or sometimes only to the player in pole position.

Look out for Prime Poker's Added Cash & Free-Roll tournaments!

Top of page

Scheduled Tournaments

All major tournaments at Prime Poker can be found in our weekly schedule. Please use this information to gain information on current events and find the tournament that best fits your style.

Scheduled tournaments have a fixed starting time but you can usually register prior to these starting times. When the tournament time approaches, all players registered (up to the given limit) will participate in the tournament. The length of tournaments is dependent on the number of players.

Top of page

Sit & Go

As well as scheduled events, you'll find "Sit & Go" tournaments! These are single table tournaments, normally with 10 players.

A Sit & Go tournament will start as soon as all the seats are filled and the prize pool is fixed.

Some Sit & Go tournaments are available 24-7 and some (like the special satellite tournaments) are only available at certain times of day. See the Sit & Go Satellite Schedule for a complete overview of these details.

Top of page

Re-buy and Add-on

During a tournament, if you run out of chips, you’re usually out of the game. In some tournaments, however, you can post another buy-in to get more chips when you run out.

Re-buys are limited though – both in number (e.g. once in a tournament) and in time (only within the first hour). The re-buy affects the prize money; it is therefore not possible to make a re-buy after the first winning person has been knocked out.

It’s possible, if permitted, to make a re-buy during the tournament, as long as the players chip stack is less or equal to, the starting chip stack.

An ‘add-on’ is a special re-buy available at the very end of a re-buy period. The add-on is available for all players, regardless of the size of their chip stack.

There is no fee for the re-buy or add-on.

Top of page

Hand by Hand

At the end of a multi table tournament, ‘hand by hand’ play is adopted. This means no new hand at a table will be played until the current hand at all tables is finished, ensuring all tables are played at the same pace.

Top of page

Blind Increase

To compensate for increasing chip stacks as players are eliminated, and to ensure that tournaments do in fact end, blinds will continuously increase. This occurs either after a number of played hands, or with specified time intervals.

Top of page

Registering

Register directly at a single table Sit & Go Tournament or by going to the table. For scheduled tournaments, either registers in the client or by going to the specific tournament lobby, or via the Prime Poker website.

After the tournament starts, you’ll be taken to the tournament table automatically if your browser is open.

Top of page

Tournament payout structure

Single-Table Tournaments:

The prize structure for a standard Sit & Go single tourney is as follows:

1st place is 50% of prize pool
2nd place is 30% of prize pool
3rd place is 20% of prize pool

All prizes are also minus your initial buy-in, e.g. for a $10+1 buy-in tourney 2nd place prize is $30 - $11 = $19.

Multi-Table Tournaments:

For multi-table tournaments the payouts structure vary. To view this information please click here and you will find a list of all scheduled tournaments. To view the payout structure. single left click on the tournament of interest and then click on the view payouts link in the prize pool section

Top of page