In most tournaments, the number of players at each table is kept even by moving players, either by switching one player or (as the field shrinks) taking an entire table out of play and distributing its players amongst the remaining tables. Player with no chips remaining (and has exhausted or declined all re-buy options, if any are available) are eliminated from the tournament.

In some cases, re-buys are conditional (for example, offered only to players low on or out of chips) but in others they are available to all players (called add-ons). Some tournaments offer the option of a re-buy or buy-back this gives players the option of purchasing more chips.

Typically, the amount of each entrant's starting tournament chips is an integer multiple of the buy-in. Tournament chips have only notional value they have no cash value, and only the tournament chips, not cash, may be used during play. Commercial venues may also charge a separate fee, or withhold a small portion of the buy-in, as the cost of running the event. To enter a typical tournament, a player pays a fixed buy-in and at the start of play is given a certain quantity of tournament poker chips.

Unlike in a ring game (or cash game), a player's chips in a tournament cannot be cashed out for money and serve only to determine the player's placing. To facilitate this, in most tournaments, blinds rise over the duration of the tournament. The winner of the tournament is usually the person who wins every poker chip in the game and the others are awarded places based on the time of their elimination. It can feature as few as two players playing on a single table (called a ' heads-up' tournament), and as many as tens of thousands of players playing on thousands of tables.

JSTOR ( August 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ģ006 World Series of Poker Main Event A home poker tournament in progress.Ī poker tournament is a tournament where players compete by playing poker.

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