MicroGaming Slot Tournaments
Slot tournament play is a recent phenomenon to grace the world of slots, and is only available at a select few operators today. However, public demand is increasing, and in a few years time it will probably be just as popular as regular slot gambling. Several operators who use the MicroGaming software platform has started to offer tournament play, and the feedback has been outstanding. It is not unusual to see thousands of players go at it during weekends!
There are several advantages of slot tournaments compared to regular play. One of these is the stakes. Usually, the stakes are fixed, and you know beforehand how much you risk losing. Even the prizes are predetermined more often than not, since most of the tournaments offer a guaranteed prize pool. This is a simple way to limit your gambling and at the same time be aware of how much you could win, if you win the tournament.
The Midweeek $5,000 tournament is played on the Avalon slot. Click image to play.
Another advantage of slot tournaments is that they are relatively fast and can generate quite a lot of money in very little time. Many tournaments are over within 5-10 minutes, with the exception of re-buy tournaments. Re-buy tournaments, on the other hand, often have the largest prizes because of the rapid growth of the prize pool when re-buys are available. The most popular slot tournaments have prize pools worth about $20,000, which is great considering the buy-in is usually as low as $20. Besides, there are often freeroll qualifiers available - so theoretically you could win one of these tournaments without risking a single cent!
What kinds of slot tournaments then, are available online? The setup is quite similar to poker tournaments; there are scheduled tournaments and Sit & Go tournaments. Scheduled tournaments have the largest prize pools, but take longer to play. In itself, the tournament is over pretty quickly, but they usually spread out across several days and you won't see the result immediately. Sit & Go's are much faster, as the number of participants is limited.
The two most prominent tournaments with guaranteed prize pools play for three days. Between Monday and Wednesday is the Midweek $5,000 - a tournament for up to 3,000 players. Registration is free, but if you want to make it to the top, you will probably need to re-buy. You may re-buy up to four times and each re-buy costs $4. First place awards $2,000, second $1,000, and third $500, so most of the prize money ends up with the top-three finishers. This makes it an attractive tournament for those who want a chance at some big money with little risk involved. The slot machine used in this tournament is called Avalon.
The second tournament is also the largest; it's called the $20,000 Weekender and is played on the Tomb Raider slot. In total, the prize pool is worth a massive $20,000 and re-buys cost $20. You can qualify to this tournament for free between Mondays and Thursdays. The number of participants is limited to 1,000. All players may re-buy up to five times for $20. If you use all of the re-buy opportunities without qualifying for free, the total cost of the tournament would be $120, but the rewards are enormous - first prize is $5,000!
The $20,000 Weekender tournament is played on the Tomb Raider slot. Click image to play.
Sit & Go tournaments are a faster way of playing slot tournaments. The prizes are smaller than in scheduled tournaments, but you could play several in the same day or even the same hour, should you want to. Most of the Sit & Go tournaments are limited to five players, and buy-ins varies between $2 and $50. The house charges a 10 percent fee, and the remainder of the prize pool is shared between first and second place at a 60/30 ratio (the remaining 10% being the fee). Several different slot machines are used for these tournaments, but the most common are "Thunderstruck," "Avalon," "Loaded," and "Tomb Raider."
More information on Microgaming Slots:
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