Welcome to the OnlineCasinoSites.com guide to online casino tournaments. Here we’ll talk about which gambling sites are the best for tournament players and discuss all the most popular tournament formats. Read on for more information, recommendations of where to play and tips for playing well.
Casino tournaments are becoming increasingly difficult to find online. There is a distinct lack of sites that host anything other than the occasional promotional tournament. Your best bet would be to open an account with one of the following casino sites and watch your inbox for promotional e-mails.
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Online casino tournaments are nice because they give you a lot of play time without making you risk a bunch of money. In a typical casino tournament, the players all buy in for a fixed amount and receive an equal number of chips. The goal from that point on is to amass many chips as possible by playing whichever game is featured in the tournament.
Whether you’re a seasoned vet or a total newbie, tournaments are worth a look. They give you the opportunity to win real money without the risk that comes with placing a constant stream of bets. If you’re on a budget but are in the mood for some good gambling action, a casino tournament has just what you need.
Once you pay the buyin at an online casino tournament, you no longer have to risk your own money for the duration of the tournament. In the end, online casino tournaments give you a lot of play time and the ability to win money at a fixed and known cost. For this reason casino tournaments are one of the best games for players with limited bankrolls.
One other major advantage to online casino tournaments is that they pit you against other players and not against the casino. The games still incorporate the same rules, but you are no longer wagering your own money against the casino. Instead, you are battling it out against other players. This reduces the house advantage and lets skill play a bigger role in all gambling games.
For example, one of the biggest pieces of strategy in online casino tournaments is figuring out how much to bet. On your left side, you might have a guy placing lots of small wagers in an effort to conserve chips and hopefully catch a big win. On the right side, you might have a guy going all-in every time in a quick attempt to double up. You then have to decide what actions you will take to beat both players.
Even if you use no strategy at all, tournaments at casino websites are a lot of fun. They limit your exposure to bad luck and maximize your chances of taking home a prize. You might not be able to hit big jackpots (because the chips are only for use in the tournament), but you can win some very nice prizes nonetheless.
Where to Play Online Casino Tournaments
We have a list of the best casino sites for tournaments right here on this page. Visit any of our top recommended casinos and you’ll find a variety of casino tournaments. Most major casino sites host tournaments on a regular basis, so there are many places to choose from.
The buyins vary from one site to the next. At some places, you’ll find tournaments that range from absolutely free to tournaments that cost about $10 to enter. High stakes tournaments are still pretty rare, but you can still earn some pretty nice prizes at highly populated, inexpensive tournaments.
The tournament casino sites that we recommend here are also noted for being safe places to play. Real money gambling requires trust, so we only recommend brands that we trust with our own money. For the best all-around casino tournament experience, visit any of our top-ranked gambling sites.
Now, let’s talk about some of the types of tournaments you’re likely to see online. The vast majority of the time, you’re going to find slots and blackjack tournaments. Roulette and craps tournaments are tough to find but we cover those as well. Our goal with this guide is to leave you well-prepared for any tournament you find.
Online Blackjack Tournaments: Online blackjack casino tournaments are always popular but they can be tough to find online. However, I do have a few recommendations on our blackjack tournaments page. These casino sites host tournaments at a variety of levels. Blackjack itself is a complex and strategy-laden game, but the tournament format adds even more layers of strategy to the game.
Online Slots Tournaments: Online slots tournaments are a great idea for money-conscious gamblers because the tournament format reduces the risk you expose yourself to. Slot machines are notoriously high house advantage, but slot tournaments pit you against the other players instead of against the house.
Online Craps Tournaments: Craps has always been a fun game due to its huge variety of bets and the way the craps table brings people together. Craps tournaments include heavy elements of strategy because they force you to really look at the other players, keep track of chip stacks and figure out the best way to minimize risk while also getting more chips than everyone else.
Online Roulette Tournaments: Same story here as well: roulette itself is based on luck, but roulette tournaments introduce skill to the game. Do you want to go all-in and double up quickly, place a bunch of small single number bets and hope to hit it big, stick with the even money bets or use some combination of all three? It’s questions like these that keep online roulette tournaments endlessly fun.
Strategy
There are two major “themes” in casino tournament strategy. First is the basic strategy for each individual game. Blackjack and craps are both subject to a great deal of strategy. In blackjack, the decisions you make have a direct impact on the odds of winning a hand. In craps, knowing which wagers subject you to the highest and lowest house advantage helps you maximize the odds of winning.
Slots and roulette don’t apply here because both games are pure chance. Every wager you make in these games has the same house advantage and there are no decisions to make after the bets have been placed.
The other major strategic “theme” is how you play these games in a tournament environment. All games are subject to these considerations. Your goal is not to just win money; it is to accumulate more chips than your opponents so you can earn a payout. This is a thin but important distinction.
Your betting strategy should vary based on how many chips you have relative to the other players, how much time is left in the tournament and what the other players are doing. For example, imagine finding yourself with a short stack near the end of a tournament. You’re going to have to go big and take risks to have any chance of closing the gap between you and the tournament leaders. Likewise, the people with lots of chips should consider a more conservative approach to protect their lead.
There’s always going to be a great deal of luck involved in tournaments. There’s nothing you can do if you happen to run cold. However, smart play and risk management will put you in prime position to take advantage of any luck that does come your way.
This is just a basic primer to casino tournament strategy. If you’d like to read more, visit any of our game-specific tournament pages listed above. Those pages go into greater detail about what you should keep in mind when playing specific online casino tournaments. In the end, victory is achieved through a combination of skillful play and good fortune. You can’t do anything to change your luck, but you can most definitely influence your results with strategic play.
Wes Burns co-founded OnlineCasinoSites.com with a mission to help gamblers understand and navigate the regulated online casino market in all countries around the world. Wes is a respected gambling journalist, working in the industry since 2008.