In a classic poker tournament, you don't have to beat all your opponents at the table to get into the prize zone (ITM – In The Money). You just need to be among the MTT participants who remain in the game by a certain point.
A “Shootout” in poker is a radically different tournament format. So what is a shootout exactly?
In these events, the tournament consists of several stages. Each stage ends when a winner is determined at all tables. For example, if you are playing at a full table of 9 people, new opponents will not be added after 3 or 4 are eliminated. The game continues until the table winner is determined, who then moves on to the next stage.
Types of Shootout Tournaments You Can Play
This is an interesting and dynamic format where you need to play aggressively. There are several popular shootout formats:
- Heads-Up: Everything is simple here. A tournament consists of many poker pairs where participants play against each other. Each winner moves on. The tournament lasts until a winner is determined.
- Full Tables (4, 6, 8, or 9 players): Each table is a separate tournament, from which only the winner advances to the next round. The game continues until the final table is formed and the champion is determined.
- All-in Shootout: Ludoman format. All players go all-in every hand until a winner is determined at each table. The procedure is then repeated until the MTT champion is named. This format is often used for drawings – it is similar to a lottery.
What Strategy Works Best in Shootout Poker?
The shootout format is quite complex, since you have to go through several stages, each of which will be a kind of final table.
In a normal MTT, you wouldn’t mind getting second place, but in a shootout, you’d be knocked out of the event. In a shootout, you must be the winner of your table in each of the preliminary stages.
Here are a few more tips we can share:
– Keep an eye on your opponents. To continue in the shootout, you must beat all your opponents, which means you need to adapt to everyone. At some point, you will probably have to face each one and compete for their full stack.
– Adjust your style. Play carefully while there are a lot of blinds on the stack. However, learn to switch gears, sharply increasing aggression and pace when the situation requires it.
– Don't think about the bubble. You can't sit out the bubble during the shootout. Waiting for the blinds to raise or tanking the time bank away doesn’t help in a shootout tournament. Only defeating all your opponents at the table will give you a ticket to the prize zone.
Where Can You Play Shootout Tournaments?
Shootout tournaments are often used to determine the winners of various promotions and drawings for money or tickets. It's almost impossible to find such tournaments on the regular schedule. However, they are held occasionally on PokerStars and at the WSOP in a $1,500 event.
There are several bonuses from PokerStars and other poker rooms available in our updated promotion section.
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Have You Seen The Freerolls Running Today?
Our freeroll section has thousands of dollars in prize pools every day across different sites. The best part is that none of them require any kind of real money buy-in.
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