Before you charge off and sign up for an online poker tourney, you should have at least a basic understanding of some of the general rules and practices associated with online poker tournaments. Of course, there are some similarities between the rules and practices associated with poker in cyberspace and poker in the "real world."

In any event, what follows is a brief overview of what you can expect in the way or rules, practices and procedures as the same pertain to online poker tournaments in this day and age.

Basic Rules of Online Poker Tournaments:

Naturally, like in the brick and mortar world, each individual poker tournament can adopt its own set of rules. Thus, there is often at least a degree of variation between the rules at one or another of the different online poker tournaments that a person might find on the World Wide Web. With that said, there are some rules and regulations that are standard to the majority of all poker tournaments that are played on the Net or off.

First, all participants in an online poker tournament will start play at the same time. There are no staggered of "shotgun" starts such as might be found in other types of competitive tournament play.

Second, each player in an online poker tournament will begin play with the same number of chips. As the chips are depleted, some tournaments to allow participants the ability to buy more chips up to the amount that they started with in the first instance. (This is done through the re-buy or add-on process.)

Third, the tournament ante or bid level increases at regular intervals throughout the competition itself. In some tournaments the ante or bid level will increase based on the passing of a specified amount of time. In single table tournaments, the ante or bid level may increase after the passage of a

Fourth, a player is able to continue playing in a given tournament until he or she completely runs out of chips. The player left standing, the player who is the last in possession of chips, is declared the winner of the online poker tournament.

Prizes and Winnings

Once the ultimate winner of an online poker tournament has been determined, the prize money will be distributed according to the rules of the competition. As has been mentioned previously, each online poker tournament does establish its own rules. And, as has also been mentioned previously in this article, there are some general rules and procedures that can be found in nearly all Internet based poker tournaments.

The very top winner out of all of the participants in a given online poker tournament will garner the bulk of the prize money. In most cases, when it comes to an online poker tournament, the first place winner will get about 40% of the purse, 40% of the prize money in the competition.

As a general practice in online poker tournaments the second place winner will get about 20% of the available prize money. The third place winner will receive about 10% of the available prize money.

In some instances, an online poker tournament will offer other types of prizes. As an example, in a satellite tournament - where a person is playing in order to gain the right to play in a more major tournament - the prize itself may be entry into the more major tournament, entrance fee being included.

If you are interested in participating in an online poker tournament, it is in your best interests to take the time to consider the rules and regulations of that tournament before you actually sign up. By familiarizing yourself with these rules, regulations and practices before a tournament, you will be in a sound position of knowing what to expect during the course of the tournament itself.
About the Author

A regular tournament player who contributes to sites dealing with a variety of poker games both online and off, visit Matthew's site at http://www.playrealpokeronline.com for the latest news and articles on America's favorite card game.