There are different types of slots tournaments offered at online casinos. Players need to understand the formats of these various kinds so that they can choose the online games best suited to them.
Online Casinos with Slots Tournaments
Play through only once
The simplest online slots tournament in online casinos is one in which the participants play through only once. They pay the buy-in, unless the tournament is a free roll. They are then given a starting chip stack, a fixed time for wagering and a slot game on which to wager. These three parameters are set for all participants to ensure uniformity. If the player loses all his chips before the allotted time has expired, he logs a score of zero and is out of the reckoning for the prizes. Otherwise, the chip balance that he holds at the end of the allotted time is his score. He is ranking on the tournament leaderboard by his score. The designated number of leaderboard toppers shares the prize pool for the slots’ tournament.
Participation ends once
In the above online tournament format, the player’s participation ends once his chip balance or time limit is over. To increase the degree of participation and make the slot tournaments more attractive to the players, online casinos have evolved formats in which the players can participate sometimes. This also helps players who have had a run of bad luck in the first attempt. One such online slots tournament format is the rebuy tournament. Players are given a starting chip stack, but can wager right across the competition span as long as they have a positive chip balance. Should they lose all their chips before the tournament comes to a close, they can pay a rebuy fee and purchase another identical chip stack and try to achieve a high score. But they have to do so within the overall time frame of the tournament. Any time they feel that their score is good enough, they can log that score and exit the tournament. The leaderboard positions are displayed to all players, and this helps players decide if they need to rebuy. There are different types of rebuy tournaments. In unlimited rebuy tournaments, the participants can rebuy any number of times without any limit. However, some online casinos feel that unlimited rebuys give an unfair advantage to those players with larger bankrolls. Hence, they restrict the number of rebuys.
Specific time for wagering
Another format in which players are allowed to participate again is the add-on slots tournament. As in the basic format, the player is allotted a starting chip stack and a specific time for wagering. When the period is up, the player can but another chip stack and a period by paying the add-on fee. The important factor is that the previous score stands, and the chip balance at the end of the next session are added onto the previous score. Add-ons are not usually unlimited. The online casino specifies the number of add-ons available to players. Players participating in add-on slots tournaments should provide for buying all the add-ons, otherwise they would be at a disadvantage.