The World Series of Poker Main Event is a typical multi table tournament (except it's the biggest of them all). The goal is to get all the chips. Everyone pays an entry fee, $10,000 for the WSOP Main Event, starts with the same amount of chips, and begins at the appointed time. Then you do battle until one player has won all the chips.



A slight variation from the multi table event is the re buy/add on tournament. This plays exactly like the multi table tournaments except for the beginning. For a pre determined amount of time, typically one hour, the players can buy more chips any time they have an equal amount, or less, than the starting stack size. After this time ends, you have a choice to add on more chips one time with any stack that you have. Then it's back to the multi table rules.

The free roll is one of the ways online poker rooms try to keep their players happy. These are normally just multi table tournaments with one big difference. They have prizes, but are free to enter!

Another very popular style is the satellite. In a satellite you are qualifying to play in a bigger tournament. Let's say you want to play in the WSOP Main Event. You don't have $10,000, but you are willing to risk $1,000, to try to win a seat. You can play in a $1,000 satellite to try. If forty people enter this event then exactly four seats to the Main Event will be awarded.

Sit and Go tournaments are very common now in online poker rooms. These are mainly single table tournaments, ranging from two to ten players. They do not have an official starting time, but instead begin when the right amount of players have entered.

A combination is the multi table sit and go. Here we have at least two tables and as many as twenty. But, the tournament doesn't start until the designated amount of players have entered.

The form of poker you remember from movies like The Sting, is the cash game. When you sit down to play in one of these games you'll choose from these. The no limit, limit, and pot limit variations.

Yet another type of event would be the heads up tournament. Players compete in heads up matches, like a tennis tournament, with the winners advancing. This continues until you have a champion.

In addition to Texas holdem, five card draw, razz, stud games and more are offered.

That's a lot to choose from. Make sure you understand the rules of the game you chose. Nothing feels worse than making a mistake that costs you money because you didn't know what you were doing.