New player? Here are 3 ways to pick the best tournament
So, you’re new to poker and looking to choose the right tournaments for you. How do you go about this?
Picking the right tournament can be confusing for new players. This article will help make that process much easier. After reading it you’ll know…
- How to choose the right stakes for you according to your bankroll.
- How to decide which type of poker is right for you.
- Plus, the kinds of game format available and which might suit you best.
How to get started
So, you’re new to poker and looking to choose the right tournaments to get started. How do you go about this?
The choice can be overwhelming. Especially when you scroll through the number of games offered by PokerStars.
There are a few factors to consider when choosing a tournament. Things like the stakes you want to play, the rules, formats and schedule of each game.
And that can be a lot for a new player to consider. But it’s easy to understand. That’s what this article is about. Let’s get started.
Start with stakes
Assuming you are playing poker online, there will be dozens of games running. You’ll notice hundreds more in the tournament lobby. But that doesn’t mean you should take your pick. Not all will be suitable. The vast majority won’t be.
Start with the stakes you want to play. This will be your own personal preference, but also determined by your bankroll – what you can afford. The golden rule is to never play with money you can’t afford to lose.
Start by keeping your poker bankroll separate to your everyday finances. That’s money put aside for the sole purpose of playing poker.
The stakes you play will be the biggest factor when it comes to choosing the right game.
Next, you’ll want to follow a simple bankroll management strategy. This helps to ensure you don’t use your bankroll carelessly. Opinions differ on the exact amount, but a rule of thumb is to wager only one percent of your bankroll on a single game.
Let’s say you have a bankroll of $500. Using this guide means you should be play tournaments around the $5 mark. Even less if the games have very large fields.
You’ll find that competition increases as you move up in stakes. So as a new player try starting low even if you can afford to jump in at a higher buy-in. This gives you time to gain the skills needed to move up as a winning player.
Back to the PokerStars lobby. Once you have decided on your stakes, you can use the “filter” option to remove games that don’t match your criteria.
Types of poker
Next consider the type of tournament you want to play. The most popular poker variation live and online is Texas Hold’em.
There are good reasons for its popularity. It strikes a balance between chance and skill. And it leaves room for players to develop strategies and exploit different betting lines.
If you’re new to poker, you’ll likely start out with Texas Hold’em. It makes sense. There’s plenty of resources out there for learning the game, not least on the PokerStars Learn site. And there’s lots of choice when it comes to playing.
Omaha is another popular option. In Omaha you’re dealt four hole cards rather than two, allowing for even more combinations of hands. Stud, Razz, and mixed games are also available online. Feel free to try out these games for free or at very low stakes to see if you have a preference.
Again, you can use the filter option in the tournament lobby to select your favourite types of poker.
Game format
Now that you’ve taken care of stakes and the type of poker, you can turn your attention to the format you want to play.
Game type is another big one. Hold’em is the most common game, but Omaha, in which you’re dealt four hold cards, is another option
Let’s take a look at some of those.
Speed
Think of the speed of a tournament when considering how much time you have to play.
Blind levels vary and this changes the dynamic of a tournament. A tournament with a slow structure and with a generous starting stack will last longer. It’ll also leave more room for deep stack play. But when blind levels are quick to increase it forces the action and makes the game go faster.
If time is no issue and you want to get the most play for your buy-in, then choose a regular or slow structure. If you have a time limit or prefer to play in shorter periods of time look out for turbo and hyper-turbo games. These are played at a (much) faster pace.
Size of field
Sit & Go’s can have nine, six, or even fewer players. Tournaments meanwhile can have dozens, hundreds, or even tens of thousands of entrants.
It’s easier to win games with a smaller field, and that means variance is reduced. Larger fields are much harder to plough through. But, they’ll have bigger prize pools. Sometimes even life-changing pay-outs.
The question here is why you’re playing poker and what do you want to get from it. If you want to build a bankroll, smaller fields are best. If you’re happy to play for a long time without winning and then (maybe) hit a big score, opt for larger fields.
You’re not locked into a choice. If you want, you can play smaller fields and take the occasional shot at a major MTT.
Format
Even within the world of Texas Hold’em, there are many different formats of the game. We’ve already mentioned blind structures and turbos. Here are some other formats to try out:
- Knockouts – In knockout tournaments you’re awarded a bounty every time you eliminate a player.
- Progressive knockouts – In PKOs, bounties accumulate to make for huge knockout prizes later on.
- Mystery bounties – In mystery bounties, the knockout prize is randomized.
- Freezeout/Re-entries – In some tournaments, you can only have one entry. In others, it’s possible to re-enter a set number of times, or even an unlimited number within a certain time limit.
- Spin & Go’s – A short-handed format with random prizes.
Schedule
Finally, the tournaments you choose should fit your schedule. Tournaments have a set starting time. So it makes sense to pick a game, or handful of games, that fall within the time you want to play.
This may even be a factor when it comes to Sit & Go’s. Even though they start once full, games fill up quicker at certain times of the day.
Remember, the main consideration is always bankroll management. Stick to this and experiment with different games, different speeds, and formats. Find the best tournaments for you.
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