Poker tournaments are one of the best ways to get rich quick in New Zealand. With buy-ins for as little as a few cents, Kiwi players can win big on the poker tournament sites on our list. We have dug deep to come up with an impressive group of online poker rooms. These sites strive to bring us tournaments that are well-run and well-funded.
The sites on our list of recommendations have all passed a thorough review. Not only have we scrutinised the tournament real money prize packages and payout scales, but we've also looked at the software and security features. Having choice tournament prizes is all well and good, but the playing experience has to match it, too.
Therefore, we have only included poker rooms that have the entire package – cracker software along with big money guarantees. If you're after big payouts and a good time, you'll find both at any of the online poker sites listed here.
Take a look at the criteria we use to assess each site's poker tournaments:
- Number of tournaments
- Tournament format variety
- Range of tournament buy-ins
- Number of big guarantees
- Tournament start times best for Kiwi time zones
- Poker client software
- Speed of poker client
We spared no effort in making sure that only the best-of-the-best made it onto our list. Our number one concern is to make certain the players in New Zealand get access to the top online poker rooms, with the best that real cash tournament poker has to offer.
Great Tournament Variety for NZ Players
There are a wealth of tournament formats running all day long at our recommended poker rooms. Have a quick look at the wide variety of games available to Kiwi players:
-
Sit & Go's or SNGs
These tournaments have a set number of entrants and start when all seats are filled. They usually range from 6 to 180 players and normally finish relatively quickly.
-
Multi-Table
Tournaments or MTTs These events are your best shot for a big pay day. You buy-in for a small amount, with the prospect of winning life-changing sums of cash, if you go deep. The player fields in MTTs can be in the thousands, and they can take hours to complete. However, the rewards can far outweigh the long hours.
-
Satellite
Tournaments Satellite tournaments are a great way to win tickets to bigger tournaments with bigger prize pools. They offer players a low risk, low buy-in ticket in hopes of walking away with a high reward, high cash payout.
-
Freerolls
Freerolls are the ultimate in free money games in online poker. It won't cost Kiwi players a penny to enter these events – and the winners usually walk away with real cash.
-
Live Tournaments
Playing in live events can be the ultimate thrill. Online rooms offer tickets and satellite tournaments to many live events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP), Australian New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) and other big events.
Online poker is a game that can be picked up very quickly. However, the strength of your hand and being able to recognize how your cards hold up to your opponents
takes years to master, what with all the subtle variations of the card values you will get to look at as you play.
The quick guide below will give you an overview of what the cards in your hand mean and the strength of your position in the game.
-
Big Pocket Pairs
Drawing this rare pair before the flop will put you in good stead, particularly if you hold pair ace in your hand. The higher the suit, the more valuable, but don't go all in too early. Pair jack for example is still a vulnerable hand to hold.
-
Big Suited Connectors
A suited connector is a hand with one face card and one consecutive card of the same suit. It's a good pocket pair to draw. With a high potential to result in a flush or a straight depending on the community cards on the table.
-
Small Pocket Pairs
Small pocket pairs mightn't seem a good combo, but these lower value cards can still result in a strong hand. The trick is to sit back and see what community cards are revealed. This will determine the strength of your pocket pair.
International Poker Tournaments
Poker tournaments are a favourite with players throughout the poker playing world, providing everybody with the opportunity to enjoy competitive action for relatively low stakes. Tournament play offers New Zealanders the opportunity to test themselves against the best players from around the world, so physical distance does not impact upon the chance to enter international events worldwide. Playing in poker tournaments gives players exposure to competitive play against the best players without the higher stakes and faster action sometimes required at sit and go tables.
Most poker sites will offer weekly or even daily freeroll tournaments, which you can enter for free to win cash prizes or real money tournament tokens. The buy-ins required to enter real money tournaments vary according to the prizes on offer, but can range from a dollar to hundreds of dollars for World Series events. However, it is possible for players to win entry to high rolling poker tournaments by winning smaller satellite events, and this has proved a lucrative route to international tournaments for many online players.
Finding the Top NZ Poker Tournament Sites
We can give you our stamp of approval that when you play online tournaments at one of our listed poker rooms, you'll get a VIP poker playing experience.
Not only are you given access to special tourney tickets, freerolls and other exclusive events, but you'll be playing with friends. All the sites we've chosen are geared towards New Zealand players – like you and like us.
Ready to win BIG? Let's get started!
