Tournaments have been a mainstay of the online casino world for as long as the industry has existed.A way for players to prove their skill (or their luck, depending on the game) and pick up a tasty cash prize while they do it, tournaments are as popular now as they ever have been, if not more so.Of course, tournaments are not only an online phenomenon, but those who want to play land-based tournaments will find them a lot more complicated to get involved with, not only due to having to travel to the tournament’s destination, but also because often it is necessary to qualify for tournaments in complex ways.Although the latter can be true of online casino tournaments, it is less often the case, as qualification for an online tournament can involve betting a small amount of money, or in some cases it can be free.When thinking of casino tournaments, poker is the first game on most people’s mind, with pokey tourneys being famous the world over, but a range of tournaments are also offered for many other game types, including blackjack, roulette, and slots.Tournaments are popular with many players due to the low risk to high reward ratio, entering a tournament normally only involves a small bet, and while winning is tough due to the number of other players in the tournament, those skilled (or lucky) enough to win can pick up huge prizes for a small original spend.For experienced players, tournaments may be a big part of their online casino life at this point, but for those newer to the industry, tournaments can feel like a scary place.You may feel like you’re ready to try your luck in a tournament, but not have a full understanding of what you’re doing, and what the best way to play is to try and pick up a few wins along the way.As always, we are here with a handy guide to make the whole thing easier for you.So, let’s go through the types of tournament that are available and what each type of tournament has to offer.
Before Entering a Tournament
If you want to experience the world of online casino tournaments, there’s a few things to do beforehand.First, find the right online casino for you, this can involve research not only into what the casino has to offer, but also the licenses held, and the trustworthiness of the site. Our online casino reviews are a great place to start your research.Once you’ve found the online casino you want to play tournaments at, create an account so you can get involved.If you are going to be entering a pay to play tournament, you will also have to make a deposit here so you can cover the entry fee.Check the entry times of the tournament, you don’t want to deposit money and then forget to enter!Finally, read the rules of the tournament, make sure you understand what you’ll have to do, and what the prizes entail if you win.
Slot Tournaments
Both the popularity and the number of online slot machines is continuously building, so it is no surprise that the majority of online casino tournaments available at the moment are centred around spinning reels.Slots are great for many because they involve minimal effort, quick and exciting gameplay, and fun features, and slot tournaments add a whole new level to this.Slot tournaments are usually based around a single slot title, so it’s worth waiting for one that revolves around a game that you enjoy.Once you find the right game, you need to find the right buy in, occasionally slot tournaments are free (these usually involve winning free spins or other non-cash prizes) but usually there’s an initial bet to pay, these rarely go over £10, but high rollers can also find tournaments with much higher buy-ins on occasion.Now, you have found a tournament with a game you enjoy, and a buy-in you can afford to lose, now it’s time to spin the reels and see if your luck’s in.Register to participate in your selected tournament and then pay the entry fee, in many cases you will be able to enter a nickname at this point that will appear on leaderboards.You will have a set amount of spins or time in the tournament, if it is a set amount of spins, then you can play these at any time during the promotional period, but if it is a time based tournament, you will need to be more prepared.If you have to pay for the spins you take during the tournament, make sure you only bet what you can afford, bet the maximum amount of spins wit the maximum amount of active paylines that you can to collect points and work your way up the leaderboard.In some cases, any winnings you pick up while playing the slot will be yours to keep regardless of where you place on the leaderboard, but that is not always the case.If the wins from spins do not come to you, and only count towards your final score, you will have to be ever more careful with how much you spend, because one must always prepare for not winning with online casino games.At the end of the tournament, visit the leaderboard to see where you’ve placed and whether you’ve picked up a prize.
Table Game Tournaments
In the case of table game tournaments, the rules can work a little differently. For roulette and blackjack games, the tournament may well work similarly to a slot tournament, in that you play a set number of rounds or as many rounds as you can within a set time limit, and your winnings from those rounds will become points on the leaderboard.However, with poker tournaments, the rules can be different, as you may be playing against other tournament competitors directly.In a poker tournament, you will normally have to win a number of games in order to win the big prizes, for example, you may play an opening poker game against a selection of tournament competitors and pick up a cash prize, then there will be the next round, a game against other qualifiers, which will have a larger prize, this continues up to a tournament final.It is not unheard of for land-based poker tournaments to hold online qualifiers for players to have the opportunity to attend big tournaments. However, these games tend to be incredibly competitive and are not recommended for players who are new to the scene.
Be Careful
One rule that always maintains when you are playing at online casinos is to proceed with caution.Problem gambling is something that affects many players around the world, and regulators and governments have really stepped their game up when it comes to offering support.As a result, there are many organisations who offer free support to those who are worried about their gambling, and obviously, if you have such concerns, it is worth avoiding tournaments altogether.If you are comfortable to enter an online casino tournament, then make sure you understand not only the rules of the tournament, but also the rules of the game you are playing.Slots are pretty easy to get to grips with, but games like blackjack and poker take practice to be comfortable with.So, before you enter a tournament that is based on a table game, play some free rounds, which is an option most online casino will provide.Once you are used to the game a little, make some small bets in non-live casino games, and see how you go.If you can afford to lose a little more, raise the bet after a while and see if you are still comfortable. If so, you can then start looking at tournaments.When it comes to the tournaments, the advice is similar, first find free or small bet tournaments to get involved with, so that if you do not win, which is statistically likely for any player, you do not lose anything you cannot afford to.If you win a few tournaments, collect those winnings, and put them towards a buy-in to a higher costing tournament, if you continue to do this only with the profit you make from tournaments, you could build your way up to some nice winnings.Tournaments are competitive, and as a result, difficult to win, but as long as you treat them as a game, something fun to play for a small price, then any winnings you pick up along the way simply count as a bonus.If you are an online casino player looking for a new challenge, then finding a tournament based around your favourite casino game can be a great way to take that next step, and you never know, somewhere down the line you could find yourself winning big!