Everyone wants to play tournaments and, at MrPoker, we are no different.
We offer one of the best online tournament schedules you’ll find anywhere, 24 hours a day. Our tournaments feature a wide variety of games, structures, and buy-ins designed to suit all types of players with all sorts of bankrolls. Whether you’re looking to play a Single Table Tournament (STT) or a larger Multi Table Tournament (MTT), you don’t have to look any further than MrPoker to find the event you’re looking for.
Below we introduce some general tournament information and highlight the different types of tournaments available at MrPoker (MTT’s and STT’s).
Our tournament section gives specific information on spectacular Featured Tournaments, Guaranteed Tournaments and the range of exciting freerolls available on MrPoker right now.
General Tournament Information
To join a tournament, players pay an entry fee before a tournament starts. There is no rake for tournaments. Instead, players pay a small fee on top of the entrance fee which goes to the house. Winnings are awarded to the top finishers in the tournament using a predetermined prize structure.
Players do not choose a seat at a table and then buy in. Instead they register in a tournament and wait to be assigned a seat. The players are seated at random around the table and each player is given a predetermined number of chips.
Players cannot buy more chips during a tournament, unless the tournament allows re-buys and add-ons. Once players lose all of their chips, they are out of the tournament (freeze-out).
A tournament finishes when one player has won all of the chips.
Play is the same as for Cash Games with the following exceptions:
• Players must always post blinds on their turn. They may not leave the table. If they are disconnected or stop playing, the blinds are posted automatically from their stacks, and the hands are automatically folded.
• Every player must post a big blind followed by a small blind once around the table. In some situations (when either the player currently on the small blind or the big blind is knocked out) there may be a “dead dealer button”. This means that the dealer button does not move to the next player, but instead stays where it is. This is because the big blind and the small blind must not miss any player at the table on its way around. Another consequence of this is that sometimes a small blind is not posted.
• Once a player has lost all his/her chips he/she cannot buy any more and is automatically removed from the table, unless the tournament allows re-buys and add-ons.
Re-buys and Add-ons
A multi table tournament may allow re-buys and/or add-ons. A re-buy gives the players the opportunity to buy more chips if they have run out of chips. If a player chooses not to re-buy any chips, the player is eliminated from the tournament.
An add-on gives players the opportunity to buy additional chips no matter how many chips they have left.
A multi table tournament may offer both re-buys and add-ons or only re-buys. It is clearly displayed which is allowed.
Timeouts and disconnections
If a player times out during a hand in a tournament, the hand is folded if a bet has been made, or checked if no-one has bet (regardless of whether the player is connected or disconnected).
Registration cancellation
If a player wishes to cancel his/her tournament registration, he/she is able to unregister at any time during the registration period. The player will then receive a full refund of his/her tournament buy-in and entry fee costs.
Cancellation or Failure
If the tournament is by some reason cancelled by the house, the buy-in and entry fee costs will be automatically refunded or at a failure manually refunded within 48 hours.
Tournament Status
A tournament can be in several states and information about this is shown in the lists of tournaments in the client.
Register – The tournament is open for registration.
Waiting – Registration to the tournament has not yet opened.
Running – The tournament has started.
Finished – The tournament has finished.
Canceled – The tournament has been canceled by the gaming operator.
Multi Table Poker Tournaments (MTT’s)
Multi-table tournaments involve players playing simultaneously at dozens or even hundreds of tables. As players are knocked out the number of tables is gradually reduced until the final table is achieved. MrPoker runs a number of featured, guaranteed and freeroll tournaments in this format.
Players are allowed to register for MTT’s during a pre-determined period prior to the start of the tournament. Registration continues until the registration period ends or the maximum number of players for the tournament is reached. In order to register, players normally pay an entrance fee, however some tournaments may be free to enter (freerolls).
Breaking Tables
There is never more than the minimum number of tables required to seat all players. As the number of players reduces, the number of tables is also reduced. A table is removed as soon as the remaining players can all be seated around the remaining tables.
‘Hand for Hand’ Play Mode
In hand for hand play mode, all hands are dealt at the same time at all tables. This occurs whenever there is more than one table, and there is a significant change in prize money between two places.
Entering an MTT
To enter the Multi Table Tournament screen, click the Multi Tourney tab.
From the Multi Tourney screen, you can register to play, as well as seeing all the important aspects of a tournament in real time. Each tournament visible in the lobby is assigned a ‘Tournament ID’ (TID) and it is possible to filter tournament types by clicking one of the five filter buttons labeled All, Regular, Satellites, Heads Up, Special, Freeroll or Private. Alongside each tournament, you can view the Start Time, Type of Game, Buy-in, Status and Player numbers.
View Tournament Information
Select a tournament by clicking a tournament row. Some information about the tournament is displayed in the panel to the right of the tournament list. For more information, click the ‘Tournament Info’ button. General tournament information is presented to the left in the screen and more specific information can be found under the two tabs Table Info and Tournament Info. The information differs slightly depending on the status of the tournament
Table Info
Information for each table in the tournament is shown together with a complete list of all players participating in the tournament.
Select a table and click Observe Table. This opens a live view of the selected table.
Select a player and click Player Info to show information about the player.
Tournament Info
Shows tournament specific information such as blind level schedule and distribution of the prize pot as well as start and stop levels of hand for hand play mode.
Click the Back button to return to the Multi Table Tournament screen.
Join the Game
If the game state is Register, a player can join the game by clicking the Register button on the tournament registration screen. A pop-up box asks the player to pay the buy in and entrance fee.
By clicking OK, the player receives a notification that he/she is registered for the tournament.
Unregister
During the registration period the player may unregister from the tournament by clicking the Unregister button on the tournament information screen.
The player will get a notification that he/she is un-registered from the tournament and that the buy in and registration fee are refunded to his/her account.
Tournament Credits
Players who win satellites now have more freedom to choose the other satellites and tournaments in which they later compete. When a player wins a satellite, he is automatically registered in the upcoming tournament on the next level. However, the player can now un-register for that tournament before it begins to save the entry fee (buy-in and rake) in the form of tournament credits.
Tournament credits can be accumulated and used to cover the buy-in and rake to other satellites and multi-table or single-table tournaments of choice. The player’s current tournament credit total is listed separately under the ‘Poker Info’ heading.
Late Registration for MTT’s
Now latecomers can also enjoy the multi-table tournament action. Players are able to join a multi-table tournament even after it has commenced. Allowing latecomers is an effective way to increase the prize pot in guaranteed tournaments. Late registrations can be allowed up to a certain defined point: either when a specific amount of time has elapsed after the start of the tournament or once a specific blind level has been reached. Registration automatically closes when the first player has been eliminated from the tournament.
Sit & Go Poker Tournaments (STT’s)
An STT, often referred to as a Sit and Go Tournament, has number of spaces allocated at a single table, and as soon as the required number of players has appeared, chips are distributed and the game starts. An STT effectively behaves the same as the final table of a MTT, except that the players all begin with the same number of chips, and the betting structure starts much lower than would likely be the case at a MTT final table. Almost invariably, fixed payoffs are used.
Entering an STT
To enter the STT screen, click the Sit & Go tab in the lobby.
From the Multi Tourney screen, you can register to play, as well as seeing all the important aspects of a tournament in real time. Each tournament visible in the lobby is assigned a ‘Tournament ID’ (TID) and it is possible to filter tournament types by clicking one of the five filter buttons labeled All, Full Table, Satellites, Short Handed, Heads Up or Private. Alongside each tournament, you can view the Start Time, Type of Game, Buy-in, Status and Player numbers.
View Tournament Information
Select a tournament by clicking a tournament row. Information about the tournament is displayed in the pane to the right of the tournament list. The information shown differs slightly depending on the status of the tournament.
Click the Blind Structure button to show the blind increase intervals (Level, Small Blind, Big Blind, and Interval in minutes).
Join the Game
If the game state is Register, the players may join the game by clicking the Register button. A pop-up box asks the player to pay the buy in and entrance fees.
Watch the game
If the tournament is running, players may watch the game by clicking the Go to Table button.
