Casino poker has become very popular in the last few years. In fact, it has become so widespread that it now enjoys the status of being one of only a handful of casino games that are recognized as a form of competitive sport.

Poker actually holds the distinction of being the earliest gambling game that had an organized tournament. With the success of the early tournaments, other casino games soon followed suit and organized their own tournaments. The poker tournament itself, has risen from the underground circuits to become one of the top events that are watched by the public and attended by celebrities.

Poker lends itself to the game tournament arena mainly because, unlike other casino games that rely on pure chance, it require a great deal of skill as an additional way of winning. Thus poker strategy has seen a great deal of leaps and bounds because of these.

Participants are also drawn to the game because of the large prizes at stake. Along with the cash prizes awarded to the top winners, they can also take a portion of the money that they win during betting rounds (some tournaments even give the full amount to the player). This makes the sport very lucrative and thus very attractive.

The usual tournament format follows that commonly used in other games, usually following the single elimination format. Depending on the organizer, an entrance fee , may or may not be collected. Players begin their tournament play with a fixed buy in amount. This is what they play for the whole duration of their tournament run. Any betting loss made is deducted from the amount to be used on the next round. Similarly, any win is added to the amount for the succeeding round. As have been said before, tournaments often give portions of the money won bets, meaning a winning streak will definitely bring in much cash to the player.

Just like any sports event, poker tournaments also present different categories to play in. instead of male and female and weight class divisions, however, the tournament plays out different versions of the poker game. Popular variants, such as Texas, holdem, Omaha and Stud, are standard fixtures in the tournament's roster. There are even triathlon and decathlon-style tournaments in which participants play different poker versions in succession. One such tournament is the HORSE, playing Texas holdem, Omaha, Razz, Stud, and Eight or Better in that order. Players in these events must therefore be very adept in the different poker forms. By far, however, the more popular tournament style features a single type of play.

Several poker tournaments are played on regular basis in key cities around the country. Many of these are open to the public and some serve as qualifying stages where players can accrue points to join larger tournaments. Most of the regional tournaments are by invitation only and requires players to have a set number of points before registering.

The grandest tournaments that one can play in are the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Participating in the said events is really an opportunity as the events are widely covered by many media outfits. Fitting for a world tournament, these two events give away generous amounts of prizes to participants. Several countries also annually hold national tournaments, such as the United States and Crown Australia Poker Championships.