No Limit Poker Tournament Rules

A no limit poker tournament is a tournament where a player can bet all his/her chips at any point in the game (after the big and small blind have been met). There is still an ante increase as normal for tournaments but the rules of the game are such that you can bet all your chips on any one hand.

To enter a tournament you will initially need to "buy in" to the tournament. This will be for a set amount and if playing online will be an amount plus the fee that the poker room will take for hosting the tournament (usually 10% of the buy in). Once you have bought in you will be seated automatically when the tournament begins. The idea is simple - obtain all the chips in play knocking out every other player and win.

The beauty of no limit tournaments is that there is no cap on the betting. You can bet all of your chips at any time during the game. Obviously in the early stages of the tournament you want to be a little tighter and loosen up as the blinds increase. You should play premium starting hands initially and when the blinds become more substantial you can change your game and play more marginal hands. As the blinds increase you will be under more pressure to play hands as the blinds will eat into your stack. For this reason, take it easy in the early stages of a tournament as the time will come when you will want to become a little more aggressive in your starting hands.

If you are playing a re buy tournament, you can purchase chips (the same quantity as you started with) for the first hour. This can be particularly useful in no limit play as one wrong move and you can commit all your chips to the pot. Many players play loose in the first hour knowing that they can re buy In some of the smaller tournaments ($10 or $20 entrance) you can usually get a good start together as players will go all in with small pairs, medium pairs, suited connectors, you name it.

Take care though. No limit means that it only takes one hand for you to put all your chips in and go out. Still the ultimate game.

Read our guide to the structure of Poker Tournaments.

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