When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn There are millions of dollars to be won in the best online poker tournaments, so finding the right places to play is crucial. We’ve scoured the internet and found online sites that offer major poker tournaments. Continue reading as we’ll show you tips how to win online poker tournaments.
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- Show Full Guide
Comparing the Best Online Poker Sites for Tournaments
Check the table below for our selection of the best online poker sites, especially for tournaments and their buy-ins.
Poker Site
Best For
Welcome Bonus
Promo Code
Poker Network
Poker Games
Buy-Ins
CoinPoker
Best overall MTT app
100% up to ₮1,100
N/A – Claim Here
Proprietary
Texas Holdem, Omaha, 5-Card Omaha
Freerolls to ₮1,000+
BetOnline
Best for all-round action
100% up to $1,000
POKER1000
Chico
Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Open Face Chinese
Freerolls to $1,000+
Bovada
Best for satellites and guarantees
100% up to $500
PWB500
PaiWangLuo
Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo
Freerolls to $1,000+
Sites for Online Poker Tournaments Reviewed
Where can you play the best online poker tournaments? After countless hours of research and testing, we’ve found a couple of brands that have tons of tournaments for players at every level.
1. CoinPoker – Offers the Best Online Poker Tournaments
- Founded: 2018
- Payout Speed: Instant
- License: Curaçao eGaming
- Headquarters: Curaçao
CoinPoker is packed with innovative features and tournaments. It’s a decentralized cryptocurrency poker site, which means you can deposit, bet, and withdraw with cryptocurrencies (eg Bitcoin and USDT) anonymously.
CoinPoker’s Top Tournaments
| Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee |
| Sunday Big Stacks | ₮5 and ₮300 | ₮300 and ₮6,000 |
| Sunday Specials | ₮2 and ₮200 | ₮250 and ₮40,000 |
| Falcon | ₮1,000 | ₮150,000 |
Even though CoinPoker only offers Hold’em and Omaha games, you won’t be short of options. And the platform is available via mobile app.
As well as plenty of daily and weekly guarantees, CoinPoker has leaderboard promotions with prizepools of ₮15,000+, as well as unique progressive knockout events.
Add major events to the mix, such as the ₮25 million Crypto Series of Poker (CSOP), and there’s a ton of tournament value at CoinPoker.
Features Overview
- Poker Tournaments: 9/10
- Poker Options: 9/10
- Mobile Poker App: 10/10
- Promotions & Rewards: 9/10
- User Experience: 9/10
- Payment Methods: 10/10
- Customer Support: 9/10
Pros 
- ₮200,000 in Sunday guarantees
- 33% rakeback
- Major poker tournaments, including CSOP
- No VPN required
Cons 
- Design could be better
- Only offers Hold’em and Omaha
2. BetOnline – Numerous Online Poker Tournaments
- Founded: 2001
- Payout speed: 24 hours
- License: Panama Gaming Commission
- Headquarters: St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
BetOnline is popular among users for its fiat and crypto payment options. In addition, it offers a mixture of games for serious players and fun features, like throwable objects, for recreational players.
BetOnline’s Top Tournaments
| Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee |
| Sunday Major Shorter Registration | $109 | $150,000 |
| 6-Max PKO | $109.00 | $10,000 |
| $6,000 GTD R/A | $33 | $6,000 |
For the serious players, the schedule is packed with progressive bounty events. Our MTT top pick is the Sunday Major.
As well as a $150,000 guarantee, it has a short registration period, meaning the average running time is less than other Sunday majors.
For recreational players, BetOnline has plenty of hyper turbo and short registration MTTs. We also like the tournament money builders, starting at $1.10, which gives you the chance to win tournament credits.
Features Overview
- Poker Tournaments: 9/10
- Poker Options: 9/10
- Mobile Poker App: 9/10
- Promotions & Rewards: 8/10
- User Experience: 9/10
- Payment Methods: 10/10
- Customer Support: 9/10
Pros
- Massive welcome bonus
- Plenty of MTTs, including $3 million series
- Covers all variants
- Fun features, such as throwables
Cons
- No rakeback
- Bonus requirements could be better
3. Bovada – The Biggest Tournament Poker Online Guarantees
- Founded: 2011
- Payout speed: 24 hours
- License: Curaçao eGaming
- Headquarters: Costa Rica
Bovada is one of the best online poker sites for satellites and guaranteed prizepools. For example, while the Sunday Major costs slightly more than others at $162, the guarantee is $200,000.
Bovada’s Best Tournaments
| Tournament | Buy-in | Guarantee |
| Sunday Major | $162 | $200,000 |
| Bovada High Roller | $325 | $100,000 |
| Jackpot SNG | $100 | $100,000 |
You can qualify for as little as $1. Our personal favorite is the $22 weekly satellite with 10 seats guaranteed.
As for SNGs, Bovada also runs single-table satellites for its biggest poker tournaments, including the Golden Spade Poker Open (GSPO) and Crypto Poker Open (CPO).
With over $2 million in weekly guarantees and more throughout the year, Bovada is notably one of the best online poker sites for tournaments.
Features Overview
- Poker Tournaments: 8/10
- Poker Options: 9/10
- Mobile Poker App: 8/10
- Promotions & Rewards: 10/10
- User Experience: 9/10
- Payment Methods: 9/10
- Customer Support: 9/10
Pros
- $2 million in weekly guarantees
- Instant crypto cashouts
- Great customer support
- Excellent selection of satellites
Cons
- Fees for certain withdrawal options
- Sunday major costs more than similar events
Types of Poker Tournaments Online
This segment will take a look at how poker tournaments online work, but the main takeaway is that they fall broadly into two categories: multi-table (MTTs) and single table, aka sit & go (SNG).
MTTs (Multi-Table Tournaments)
Multi-table poker tournaments are suitable for players at every level. The premise is simple: players sitting at multiple tables play until only one remains.
Every live poker tournament you see on TV, from the WSOP Main Event to the WPT World Championship, is a multi-table showdown.
Multi-table tournaments come in a variety of formats, including regular, turbo, and bounty. So, if you’re aiming to play poker tournaments online, it pays to understand the main formats and which strategies work best.
MTTs have scheduled start times. Players pay an entry fee (buy-in), entitling them to a specific number of chips. The chips only have value within the tournament, and players remain active until they lose their chips.
Those who make it “into the money” – usually the top 10%-15% of the field – win a cash prize. The winner takes the lion’s share of the prizepool once they hold all of the chips in play.
CoinPoker has the best online poker tournaments for US players because games are open to people worldwide. This means there’s a better chance of coming up against weak players than if you play poker tournaments online for money at ring-fenced sites.
SNGs (Sit & Go Poker Tournaments)
Sit & Go tournaments (SNGs) take place on a single table and don’t have a specific start time. As the name suggests, the action begins once everyone (usually two, six, or nine players) is seated.
Your aim is the same as MTTs, ie to win all the chips in play. What’s interesting about SNGs is that you’re always against the same players. New players don’t come to the table like they do in MTTs, making it slightly easier to get reads on players.
With the number of players is gradually decreasing, ICM (Independent Chip Modelling) can be more important in SNGs than MTTs (more on this later).
Check out the online poker tournament schedule at Bovada because you can play SNGs with random prizepools (aka Jackpot SNGs) topping $100,000.
Breaking it Down…
There is a variety of interesting formats within the two categories outlined above.
Online Poker Tournament Features
There are five fundamental features of poker tournaments. From the biggest poker tournament online to local live events, these features separate tournaments from cash games:
Online Poker Tournament Schedule
Online poker tournaments have set start times, which is one reason they’re different from SNGs. The fact that tournaments have start times mean that poker operators can schedule events throughout the week.
The quality of an online poker site can be judged by its tournament schedule.
We rank the best online poker sites for tournaments according to the number of MTTs they offer, their guarantees, and whether there are buy-ins to suit all players.
Tournament Stack Sizes
Tournament chips don’t have any value in the real world. They’re simply credits that keep you in the game.
Everyone starts a poker tournament with the same number of chips (their stack), and the aim is to outlast everyone else and have all the chips in play.
Poker Tournament Buy-In
A poker tournament buy-in is the amount it costs to enter.
All poker tournaments online have a registration period, which includes the time before a tournament starts and a certain amount of time after it’s started (known as late registration).
You’ll pay rake each time you play poker tournaments online for real money. Rake is a small fee taken by the operator to cover costs. Cash game rake is taken from pots that meet certain conditions.
Tournament rake is built into the buy-in. It’s usually 10%-15% of the buy-in.
For example, if the entry fee is $10, the rake will be $1. This means the poker tournament buy-in will be displayed at $10 +$1 or, more commonly, $11.
The Tournament Clock
The blinds in poker tournaments increase at predetermined intervals, eg every 12 minutes.
This is one of the major differences between tournaments and cash games, where the blinds never increase or decrease.
The escalating nature of the blinds keeps tournaments moving along because it forces players to enter pots. Without playing hands, you’d simply lose your chips to the blinds (aka blinding out).
Tournament Payouts
Poker enthusiasts choose to play poker tournaments online for money.
Unfortunately, the majority of players who enter a tournament leave empty-handed. That’s because payouts are reserved for a small percentage of the field.
In general, the best online poker tournaments pay prize money to the top 10%-15% of players.
So, if the field contained 200 players and the top 10% win a share of the prizepool, you’d need to finish 20th or better to receive a payout.
The player who finishes one place before the payout starts is said to “burst the bubble”.
Bonuses for Online Poker Tournaments
The best bonuses to look for if you play poker tournaments online for money are the following:
Supported Payment Methods at Poker Tournament Sites
You can only play the best online poker tournaments for real money prizes if you’ve got cash in your account. Here are safest ways to deposit money online:
Online Bank Transfer
Sending money from and to your bank account is extremely safe because it’s a system that’s been used for decades.
Bank transfer withdrawals take longer than other payment methods, with an average processing time of seven days.
However, the maximum deposit and withdrawal limits are higher than other methods, which makes this an ideal option for high rollers.
Debit and Credit Cards
Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, and Discover allow you to instantly deposit money from your checking account. You can also withdraw money to debit cards.
The average processing time is two to five days.
Cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies aren’t attached to a single country, meaning you can make peer-to-peer payments without incurring currency conversion charges.
Moreover, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies ensures that transactions are inherently safe because they go through a complex encryption and decryption process.
Finally, because transactions don’t go through a third party, processing times for deposits and withdrawals are basically instant.
Our recommended site for people who want to play poker online tournaments using cryptocurrencies is CoinPoker. You can read our CoinPoker review for further details.
Prepaid Cards
Prepaid cards, also known as one-time vouchers, allow you to make deposits using a special code.
You obtain this code by paying for a voucher in cash (in a store) or online.
Simply enter the code in the ‘Payment’ page of your chosen poker site, and the funds are credited to your account.
Best Strategies for Online Poker Tournaments
There is not one definite strategy on how to win online poker tournaments.
You’ll find a lot of variance in online poker tournaments, and the world’s top players only expect to win a small percentage of the events they enter.
Of course, there are a ton of variables that can affect your win rate. However, you shouldn’t expect to cash in every tournament. The positive is that when you do reach the money of a tournament, the returns can be huge.
It’s possible to cancel out a string of losses with a single tournament win. So, if you’re willing to embrace a fairly large amount of volatility, poker tournaments are ideal. If not, you might prefer cash games.
For those who like the challenge MTTs present, the best strategies for online poker tournaments are:
How to Play Poker Tournaments Online
Here's how to play tournaments at CoinPoker,.
Tap to Join
Use our link to open the CoinPoker homepage. Tap “Register” to open the sign-up form.
Enter Your Details
Enter your email, as well as a nickname and password. You can also enter a CoinPoker promo code if you have one. Hit the “Sign Up” button to complete the process.
Verify Your Account
Use the link in the email from CoinPoker to activate your account.
Install CoinPoker
Use the download button to install CoinPoker on your desktop or mobile device. You’ll be asked to provide your phone number when you first open the app. Enter your number to receive a verification SMS.
Deposit and Play
Open the “Cashier” page and make a deposit to claim your welcome bonus. Choose an MTT and shoot for glory.
What is a Poker Tournament?
A poker tournament is an event where multiple players compete to claim all the chips in play.
The players who survive long enough to reach the top percentile win a share of the prizepool, with the winner taking the lion’s share.
You should consider playing tournament poker online if you…
- Like competitions with an ultimate goal
- Like to switch up your play and use different tactics
- Enjoy the challenge of playing poker with deep stacks and short stacks
- Want to play for a significant return on your investments
- Want to test yourself against a variety of players and playing styles.
Why Play Online Sunday Poker Tournaments?
Sundays have become the day to play online poker tournaments for real money.
There’s nothing particularly special about Sundays, other than the fact it’s the day most people aren’t working. Therefore, the best online poker sites for tournaments tend to be busier on Sundays.
More players mean more buy-ins which generates bigger prizepools. That’s why the biggest poker tournaments online happen on Sundays.
Some of the standout events to look out for on a weekly basis are:
- CoinPoker’s ₮200 Sunday Special with a ₮40,000 guarantee
- BetOnline’s $109 Sunday Major (Shorter Registration) with a $150,000 guarantee
- Bovada’s $162 Sunday Major with a $200,000 guarantee
Differences Between Poker Tournaments and Cash Games
Despite sharing a lot of qualities and an overarching aim, online poker tournaments and cash games are different disciples.
You want to win as many pots as possible by having the best hand or by making everyone else fold. You can also use fundamental poker skills, such as value betting, bluffing, and squeeze plays, in both formats.
But when it comes to the ways you employ these techniques and strategies, there are nuances you need to know. These nuances are determined by the dynamic nature of poker tournaments.
The blinds are constantly increasing in tournaments, and players are entering and leaving the table constantly. Additionally, there’s the interplay between stack preservation and chip accumulation.
All this means you need to be dynamic in tournaments. You can’t adopt one style of play and have it be as effective as it would be in cash games.
Best Site for Online Poker Tournaments – Our Verdict
The best online poker tournaments are a true test of your diversity as a player. Indeed, it’s the players who are best at adapting to new situations that often emerge victorious.
This challenge, coupled with the fact that you can win $1 million+ from major poker tournaments, is why players at all levels love MTTs.
Our recommended sites have online poker tournament schedules to suit everyone.
From daily freerolls and weekly guarantees to multi-million-dollar series, you’ll never be short of ways to put your skills to the test at the best online poker sites for tournaments.
How We Test and Review Poker Websites
150+ Gambling Platforms Reviewed
1,100+ Games Software Tested
200+ Monthly Hours of Research
375+ Promotions Verified
Playing online poker is becoming more popular by the day and you need to choose a reputable site that best matches your needs.
We here at Techopedia have an in-house review process that’s analyzed by our poker experts that covers each and every aspect of the most popular online poker sites in the world.
In particular we look at:
- Rakeback and other bonuses
- Game selection
- Player pool size
- Reputation and safety
- Payment methods
To find out more, take a look at our detailed guide on how we test gambling platforms and poker sites featured on Techopedia.
FAQs
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Affiliate Disclosure: Techopedia may receive advertising commissions for visits to a suggested operator through our affiliate links, at no added cost to you. However, all our recommendations are unbiased and follow a thorough review process. Gambling can be addictive, please play responsibly and you must be of legal gambling age.
References
- https://www.icmizer.com/icmcalculator/ (ICMIZER ICM Calculator)
- https://upswingpoker.com/push-fold-tournament-strategy-charts/ (Upswing Poker Push/Fold Strategy)
- https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/financial-services/fintech/bitcoin-blockchain-cryptocurrency.html (PWC – How Cryptocurrency Works)
