Poker tournaments are popular because there is no limit to the number of player taking part in them. It is should be as small as 2 people playing at a single table and can also be as big as thousands of players playing a large number of table. It is a tournament in which the winner takes all, as the person who wins all the poker chips is declared the winner. Others are ranked according to the elimination. Player’s are ranked 1, 2, and3 etc. A tie for the number 1 position is not possible because he has to win all the poker chips. Ties for the other positions are possible even though such cases are very rare. Starting with a number of players, the final phase is reached with only two players facing each other. This is crucial and the most nervous part of the game, where the 2 players may be running close to each other. With all their ability for taking chances, the survival instinct may make the 2 players to end the game at that stage and split the money.

Tournaments are invitational and open. There are major fulltiltpoker.com tournaments and minor tournaments. There are also the local tournaments. Different countries and continents have their own world championship tournaments. The two most well known, largest, and most prestigious tournaments in the U.S.A are the World Poker Tour championship and World Series of Poker championship. Both the tournaments are held in Las Vegas. Some of these tournaments are telecast alive. Earlier, the Super Bowl of Poker was considered the most prestigious and second largest in the country. All these tournaments are held in well known casinos. These venues may change sometimes.

The European Poker Tour is now considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms of participation and prize money. It is held in London. The Asia has Asia-Pacific Poker Tour held in Macau. In Latin America, the Latin American Poker Tour of Argentina is the most well known. In Pacific region, the biggest tournament is the Crown Australian Poker Championships also known as Aussie Millions.

Apart from the above, there are also some tournaments, which can be considered as major events but not comparable to others. These tournaments are held throughout the year and many parts of the country with buy-ins varying from one tournament to the other. Some stand alone tournaments are conducted along with another tournament series. Some cities hold tournaments for only for their country. With the evolution of internet and online playing facility all the tournaments are becoming bigger and bigger. Some tournaments are played online. Two of the biggest online poker tournaments are The World Championship of Online Poker and the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, these tournaments have prize money of over a million dollars.

There are multi tables or single table tournaments. In a tournament series, multiple tournaments are played and each of them carries a prize. A standings system is created for each tournament and major poker tournaments, use these standings as the basis for determining the player of the year.