When you first login to an online poker site and click tournament, you will be greeted with a lot of options, the first of which is the price which you have to pay to play. This will range from a measly 10 cents on some sites, up to the thousands on others.
The idea here is to play within your bank roll, so that you can be fearless at the tables, and make it so that losing will not hurt you to bad. For many hobby poker players a few $10-$20 tournaments on the weekends is the perfect way to pass the time without doing to much damage to the online poker bankroll.
The most popular form of poker today is No Limit Texas Holdem, though their are many variations played online. Games such as Razz, 7 card stud, 7 Card stud hi/lo, Pot Limit Omaha, Limit Omaha H/L etc. All of these games require you to do some reading at first, but if you are comfortable with one, you should be comfortable playing the rest.
After you’ve decided on the game to play, you need to decide what size tournament you’d like to play based on the number of entrants.
Most MTT’s are played 9 handed throughout, although there are several six handed options on major poker sites as well.
This is where you can use a bit of strategy in your selection. The reason poker players tend to prefer 6 handed poker tables is firstly because there’s less time between turns, and secondly, and more importantly, because in a six handed game, once a player has picked out a few weaknesses in their opponents, they have more frequent opportunities to exploit them.
If it’s late at night though, and you’re sleepy, or you’re drinking, kicking back, and you’re playing a bit passive, these are not good tables to choose, as they tend to be played more aggressively.
The length of a tournament is another thing to keep in mind. If it’s late Sunday night and you want to play poker for an hour or so, before getting to bed, as you have to work in the morning, The Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt Poker might not be the best idea for you. There are usually thousands of players registered in the event, and it can take several hours to play out.
The final piece to making a wise choice when it comes to tournament selection is simply choosing the right game style for you. If you’re a solid rock type player, that plays tight with nothing but the nuts, you’re not going to prosper in a turbo tournament. You need time to make your moves, wait for hands, and double through your opponents before the blinds begin to raise.
If however you’re more of an action player, then you’re looking to play in turbo events, where the tight guys are getting squeezed for their blinds.
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