Let's have a look at what goes in to a sit-and-go tournament and how it works. What follows is a typical example. Always check the terms of the tournament you play as some may differ.
A single-table tournament consists of ten players each of who have paid the appropriate entry fee. Under normal circumstances, the entry fees make up the prize money fund which is then split between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed players on a 50/30/20 percent basis.
Thus, a £5+£1 tournament means each player had paid a total of £6 to enter. £5 goes in to the prize money fund and the poker room takes the £1 for hosting the tournament. With ten players, the prize money fund is £50 with the winner taking £25, second place taking £15 and third place taking £10.
Each player begins the tournament with the same amount of chips. The starting blinds are preset as is the rate at which the blinds will rise. A tournament is designed to eliminate people by constantly rising the blinds. This is an important part of strategy which we'll look at later.
However - it is crucial that you are aware of the blind structure, when the blinds will rise and by how much. It's either after a certain number of hands or a given length of time. Say every ten minutes or every fifteen hands.
A typical blind-rise structure might look something like this:
Round
Small
Big
1
10
15
2
10
20
3
15
30
4
25
50
5
50
100
6
75
150
7
100
200
8
150
300
9
200
400
10
250
500
11
300
600
12
400
800
13
500
1000
14
750
1500
15
1000
2000
So you can see that you can't hang around forever and the rising blinds will eventually eat up your stack of chips unless you win a few play continues with the blinds rising until only one player is left standing (or is that sitting.....) - the winner. To learn more about strategies make sure to check our tournaments strategies article.