Poker Tournament – FAQ

What is a tournament?

  • A tournament is a Poker game played with fake chips. Players “buy-in” for a predetermined price and receive a set amount of tournament (fake) chips. Players play until they either win or lose all of their chips. Once a player has lost his/her chips, they are out of the tournament.
  • Some tournaments allow players to “re-buy” more chips for a set amount of time. This way, if you lose all of your chips, you can purchase more. Once the rebuy period is over, players cannot buy any additional chips.
  • All of the “buy-in” and “rebuy” money is collected and paid out to the last people left in the tournament.
  • Usually tournaments pay out “places”: (First place, second place, third place, etc.) Normally one place is paid per tournament table. (If there are 4 tables, we pay 4 places…16 tables will pay 16 places)
  • First place usually wins 25-30% of the prize pool.

How do I sign up for a tournament?

  • You can sign up for all tournaments in the Poker room at the Poker cage. Sign ups are only done in person.

When can I sign up?

  • Sign up times differ for each tournament; we hold weekly, monthly, and special event type tournaments.
  • Weekly: Sign up at 8am the day of event
  • Monthly: Sign up the Monday before event at 8am.
  • Special: First day of the event month at 8am.

What is a Buy-in/Entry?

  • A Buy-in is the amount of money that will be placed in the prize pool. 100% of all players’ buy-in is paid out in prize money. An entry fee is what the house (poker room) takes to pay for expenses.

What time does the tournament start?

  • A Tournament start time is always posted on the tournament structure/information sheet which is available in the room and on our website.

Can I sign up more than one person?

  • For most tournaments, we allow players to sign up anyone they would like. For our Real Money tournament, players are only allowed to sign themselves up.

Do I need to sign in when I get there?

  • Nope. Just show up with your receipt and approximately 15 minutes before start of tournament, we will assign seats.

Can I use a Visa, check, or money order?

  • At this time, we only allow cash.

Can I check in with a Coyote Card?

  • Yes! Tournament players can earn points when they check in with their Coyote Card. Also, if you present your card at time of sign up, you will receive 100 extra tournament chips!

How long does a tournament last?

  • Most tournaments last approximately 4-6 hours. Remember, not everyone will last that long. If you do, you have probably won money!

What is a Satellite?

  • A Satellite is a small, one table, low cost, tournament. Players play satellites in order to gain entry into a tournament with a high buy-in. For instance, a tournament costs $120-the satellite for that tournament would be $25. The (1) winner of the satellite, would be signed up for that tournament and have his buy-in paid in full. We do not hold satellites for all tournaments.

How many players can play?

  • We can hold up to 161 players for a tournament. From time to time we do sell out. You are welcome to call ahead for availability. 1-800-760-7977 ext. 3501

Will there be live Poker games while the tournament is running?

  • Most of our tournaments do not sell out so we continue to run live games all day.
  • If we have a tournament that is sold out, we will close all games at the start of that tournament. In this case, we will start games as soon as players start coming out of the tournament. The wait is usually not more than an hour.