Not all poker tournaments are the same. The buy-in might be identical, the starting chips might look similar, and the same hand rankings apply – but the format of a tournament fundamentally changes how you should play it.

A strategy that prints money in a slow-structured freezeout can burn through your bankroll in a turbo. The aggressive approach that dominates a bounty tournament can get you eliminated early in a deep-stack event. Understanding tournament formats is not optional knowledge – it is the foundation for choosing the right events and adjusting your strategy before the first hand is dealt.

Freezeout Tournaments

The freezeout is the purest form of tournament poker. You pay the buy-in, receive your starting chips, and that is it. No rebuys, no add-ons, no second chances. When your chips are gone, you are out.

How it works:

• Every player starts with the same number of chips
• Blinds increase on a fixed schedule
• Once eliminated, you cannot re-enter
• Play continues until one player has all the chips

Strategy implications:

Freezeouts reward careful chip management. Because you cannot reload, every chip you have carries survival value. This does not mean playing scared – it means avoiding unnecessary risks, especially in the early and middle stages.

• Early stages: Play tight and look for spots where you have a significant edge. There is no reason to gamble on coin flips when the blinds are low relative to your stack.
• Middle stages: As blinds increase, you need to start accumulating chips. Attack tight players and pick up blinds and antes.
• Bubble play: The bubble is where freezeout strategy gets most interesting. Short stacks become extremely tight because elimination means getting nothing. Use this to steal aggressively if you have a healthy stack.

Freezeouts are ideal for patient, disciplined players who prefer making careful decisions over gambling for volume.

Rebuy Tournaments

Rebuy tournaments allow you to purchase additional chips during a designated rebuy period – usually the first 60 to 90 minutes of play. If you lose all your chips (or drop below the starting stack in some formats), you can rebuy for the same price as the original entry.

Most rebuy tournaments also offer an add-on at the end of the rebuy period. Every remaining player can purchase additional chips regardless of their stack size. The add-on is almost always worth taking.

How it works:

• Players can rebuy (typically unlimited times) during the rebuy period
• After the rebuy period ends, the tournament becomes a freezeout
• An optional add-on is offered at the break

Strategy implications:

The rebuy period creates a fundamentally different game. Because elimination is not permanent during this phase, many players adopt an extremely aggressive style – shoving all-in with marginal hands, gambling on draws, and treating the early levels like a cash game where the goal is to accumulate a massive stack.

• During the rebuy period: You have two options. Join the aggression and rebuy when you bust, or play tight and let the maniacs donate chips to each other. The aggressive approach builds bigger stacks but costs more buy-ins. The tight approach is cheaper but often leaves you with a below-average stack.
• After rebuys close: The dynamic shifts sharply. Players who were gambling recklessly suddenly tighten up because elimination is now real. This transition is one of the most profitable moments in the tournament – tight players who survived the rebuy chaos can exploit opponents still adjusting.
• Bankroll consideration: Budget for 3 to 4 buy-ins per rebuy tournament (original entry + 2-3 rebuys + add-on). If you only have the initial buy-in, you are at a structural disadvantage.

Rebuy tournaments suit aggressive players with larger bankrolls who enjoy high-variance play.

Turbo and Hyper-Turbo Tournaments

Turbo tournaments use a faster blind structure than standard events. Where a normal tournament might increase blinds every 15 to 20 minutes, a turbo does it every 5 to 8 minutes. Hyper-turbos are even faster, with blind levels lasting 3 to 5 minutes.

How it works:

• Same rules as a standard tournament, but blind levels are significantly shorter
• Starting stacks are often smaller relative to the blinds
• Tournaments finish much faster (a turbo might last 2 hours instead of 6)

Strategy implications:

Speed changes everything. In a turbo, you do not have time to wait for premium hands. The blinds eat through your stack so quickly that you must play a wider range and make faster decisions about committing your chips.

• Preflop decisions dominate: With less time at each blind level, stacks shrink faster relative to the blinds. You spend more time in the push-or-fold zone (under 15 big blinds) where the only real decisions are all-in or fold.
• Position and aggression matter more: When stacks are shallow, being the first to shove gives you fold equity in addition to your cards. Calling an all-in requires a stronger hand than shoving all-in.
• Postflop play is rare: Deep-stacked postflop situations are brief. Most of your edge comes from preflop decisions, stack-size awareness, and ICM understanding.
• Variance is much higher: Because the structure forces more gambling, even skilled players experience larger swings. Your results over a small sample are less meaningful.

Turbos and hyper-turbos are popular with players who want quick action, have limited time, or want to play a high volume of tournaments in a short period. They reward players who have memorized push-fold charts and understand short-stack ICM.

Bounty and Progressive Knockout (PKO) Tournaments

Bounty tournaments add a reward for eliminating other players. A portion of each player’s buy-in is placed on their head as a bounty. When you knock someone out, you immediately collect their bounty.

Progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments take this further. When you eliminate a player, you collect half their bounty and the other half is added to your own bounty. This means bounties grow throughout the tournament, and eliminating a player who has already knocked out several others can be extremely profitable.

How it works:

• Typically, half the buy-in goes to the prize pool and half becomes the player’s bounty
• In PKO format, bounties accumulate as players are eliminated
• The remaining prize pool is distributed normally to top finishers

Strategy implications:

Bounties fundamentally change the math of calling and shoving. In a standard tournament, you only care about chips and ICM. In a bounty event, eliminating a player has direct cash value that must be factored into every decision.

• Calling ranges widen: If a short-stacked player shoves and you can win their bounty by calling, you need a weaker hand to make the call profitable. In PKO tournaments where bounties have grown, this effect is dramatic – sometimes you should call with almost any two cards.
• Covering your opponents matters: You can only collect a bounty if you have more chips than the player you eliminate. Having a big stack is even more valuable than usual because it gives you bounty coverage over more opponents.
• Short stacks are targets: In a standard tournament, attacking a short stack near the bubble is about ICM pressure. In a bounty event, there is an additional financial incentive to bust them.
• Late-game bounties can be enormous: In a PKO, a player who has eliminated several opponents might have a bounty worth more than most remaining prize pool positions. Hunting these large bounties becomes a significant strategic factor.

Bounty and PKO tournaments suit aggressive players who enjoy action and want rewards for eliminating opponents rather than just surviving.

Sit-and-Go Tournaments (SNGs)

A sit-and-go starts as soon as enough players register – no scheduled start time. The most common format is a single-table SNG with 6, 9, or 10 players, though multi-table SNGs exist as well.

How it works:

• Starts when the required number of players register
• Typically a single table (6-10 players)
• Standard payout structure: top 3 get paid in a 9-player SNG (50%, 30%, 20%)
• Blind levels increase on a set schedule

Strategy implications:

SNGs are heavily influenced by ICM because the payout structure is concentrated among a small number of players. Every decision near the bubble has significant financial implications.

• Early stages: Play straightforward, tight poker. With only one table, you get plenty of information about your opponents. Avoid big pots without strong hands.
• Middle stages: As the field narrows, start accumulating chips. The transition from 6 players to 4 is where aggressive players build their edge.
• Bubble play: This is where SNG strategy diverges most from other formats. With 4 players left and 3 getting paid, ICM pressure is enormous. A big stack can bully the medium stacks mercilessly because they cannot afford to risk elimination with the money so close. Short stacks should tighten up dramatically and let the medium stacks fight.
• Heads-up: Once you reach the money, the dynamic shifts. The pay jump from second to first is significant, and you should play aggressively to claim it.

SNGs are ideal for players who enjoy studying ICM, want short and predictable session lengths, and prefer a format where skill in specific situations (especially bubble play) provides a consistent edge.

Satellite Tournaments

Satellites are feeder tournaments where the prize is not cash but an entry into a larger, more expensive tournament. For example, a $50 satellite might award seats to a $500 main event.

How it works:

• A set number of entries to the target tournament are awarded
• If 100 players enter and 10 seats are awarded, finishing in the top 10 wins the seat
• All winners receive the same prize (the entry), so there is no difference between finishing first and finishing tenth

Strategy implications:

The flat payout structure creates unique strategic considerations. Unlike a standard tournament where first place wins significantly more than second, in a satellite every surviving player wins the same thing.

• Survival is everything: Once the field has been reduced close to the number of seats awarded, your only goal is not getting eliminated. There is no reward for accumulating extra chips.
• Big stacks should attack medium stacks: If you have enough chips to coast into a seat, use your stack to pressure players who are clinging to survival.
• Avoid big confrontations near the bubble: If you have a healthy stack and are close to winning a seat, do not risk it in a coin flip. Let short stacks eliminate each other.
• ICM pressure is extreme: The difference between just missing a seat (winning nothing) and barely making it (winning the full entry) is the largest pay jump in any tournament format relative to the remaining field.

Satellites suit patient, disciplined players who understand when to stop accumulating and start surviving.

Choosing the Right Format

Different formats reward different strengths. Here is a quick guide:

If you are new to tournaments, start with standard freezeouts or sit-and-gos. These formats let you learn core tournament concepts – blind management, ICM, and stack-size strategy – without the added complexity of rebuys or bounties. As your skills develop, branch out into other formats to find where your edge is largest.

Conclusion

Every tournament format creates a different strategic puzzle. Freezeouts test your patience and discipline. Rebuys test your aggression and bankroll management. Turbos test your short-stack decision-making. Bounty tournaments test your ability to adjust hand ranges for direct financial incentives. Sit-and-gos test your ICM precision. Satellites test your survival instincts.

The best tournament players do not just pick one format and ignore the rest. They understand what makes each format unique, adjust their strategy accordingly, and choose events that match their strengths.

No matter which format you play, understanding the probability of your hand winning is fundamental to every decision. The AI Poker Tools Odds Calculator gives you real-time win probabilities so you can make sharper, more informed decisions at every stage of any tournament.