The virtual room fills up and you feel the thrill of the game pulsing through the pixels as you join thousands of people around the world in an online poker game that could put $10,000 in your back pocket.

Borgata’s Daily 10k Poker Promotion is a firm favorite for those who love online poker tournaments. It all happens in the virtual world and if you’re looking to find out more about how one of the best online poker games works, then carry on reading. Let’s unpack the $10k tournament for you, as well as the skills and mindset you might need to obtain in order to rise to the top of the pool.

The structure of the game

The $10k online game format is No-limit Texas Hold’em, one of the world’s favorite variants of the game. This particular tournament has a $100 + $9 entry fee, a guaranteed payout and a re-entry option. At the start level, the blind is 25–50 and the ante is six.

Poker blinds are mandatory bets that are placed into the pot before any cards are dealt. The blinds are paid each hand by the players who are occupying the “small blind” and “big blind” seats at the table. Poker blinds help drive the action forward and prevent players from simply folding until they are dealt premium cards.

The big blind and small blind refer to the amount that players occupying these two positions at the table must place into the pot before any cards are dealt; these are also the only bets put down by the players in those positions.

For those who don’t know, there are two special seats at this poker table, the big blind, who will pay in the bigger amount, and the small blind, who will place the smaller bet. The players in these seats have to place their bets before any cards hit the felt. Blinds, and the players in those seats, change at regular intervals, if not with time, then with the rearrangement of players. The ante, on the other hand, is a compulsory bet that everybody must place before a new hand is dealt.

There are normally up to 10 poker players at a table at the start of the tournament, and the dealer will use one deck of cards, which will have been shuffled by the player in the big blind. During the game, players may be eliminated and choose to re-enter the tournament. If you’re one of these, you’ll have to buy your way back in for the initial entry fee and will probably be seated at a different table.

When it comes to paying out, between 10% and 30% of the players will be rewarded for their skills in a multi-table tournament. If there is an option to re-buy or re-enter an online tournament, then the payout could be a lot more than initially advertised.

The skills you need to play the game

The game is as much about strategy as it is about the luck of the draw, and there are a lot of things you need to be aware of when developing your poker tournament strategy. Minute details about each player can tell you a lot about how their games are progressing and if they think they are doing well. You can use this information to strengthen your own strategy and even subtly influence them to play in a certain way.

One strategy you can use is to work out how soon you will blind out if you don’t play a single hand. This tactic can help you decide exactly where and when to play and is known as the “patience factor.”

According to amateur poker player and science author Alex O’Brien, poker players constantly question themselves for every hand they play, trying to gauge “range,” and the scope of possibilities ahead, deciding on risk and probable outcome based on various actions. She adds that in Texas Hold’em, there are 169 ways the game could start, and from there, the variables change at an alarming pace. O’Brien took the game up as a hobby but learned how to play poker properly when she began writing on how poker tournaments could help a person think more critically in stressful situations.

As part of her learning about the game, and following an unexpected win and subsequent Heads-Up game, O’Brien studied under Olivier Busquet. A math whizz and number-cruncher extraordinaire, Busquet is known for his risk-taking personality and is one of the poker world’s better-known players and commentators. He reckons that if you want to become a successful poker player, you need to have a combination of strategic thinking, emotional resilience and psychological awareness.

Games you can play every day

But for many who visit online poker sites, the simple thrill of trying their luck against someone else is all that’s needed to make poker tournaments great. Expand your hand and try your luck on other online poker games by Borgata Online, from Old School Poker played from the comfort of your lounge to Bounty Blitz, Progressive Knock Out Bounties and Sit and Go tournaments.

It’s really easy. Sign up Borgata Online, and search for a tournament that suits you – most of our games and time slots are designed to fit in with your lifestyle. Once you’ve found your match, pay your entry fee, and get ready for some high-stakes fun as you play poker online. For a small buy-in, you could get a big payout and have a great deal of fun along the way.