Top Online Poker Tournament Sites

The late 1990s saw the arrival of free and real-money online poker games, and as the years passed, online poker sites introduced features and events, such as tournaments, to attract new players. Many poker fans like these online tournaments because they are more accessible, have more variety, and often offer great rewards.

Here are some of the top Internet casino sites offering online poker tournaments that draw thousands of players every week to their virtual poker tables.

PokerStars

Founded in 2001 in Costa Rica, PokerStars has grown to become the world's biggest online poker site. It's no surprise, therefore, that PokerStars also has a huge selection of online tournaments. They include the following.

World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)

The WCOOP, considered by many to be the World Series of Poker's online equivalent, has been held every year since 2002. It's also deemed the biggest online poker tournament series with the largest online poker prizes. Tyson Marks, for example, brought home $2.2 million when he won the WCOOP 2010 Main Event.

Sunday Million

A guaranteed prize pool of $1 million makes PokerStars' Sunday Million the biggest weekly online poker tournament in the world. The No Limit Hold'em tournament also offers a first prize that typically goes over $100,000.

Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP)

The inaugural SCOOP was held in 2009 and has grown to become among the most popular online poker tournament series. There are events for every type of poker player, and these events also have different buy-in stakes.

William Hill

William Hill Poker offers a diverse selection of tournaments to poker enthusiasts looking to win some cash from their favorite card game. For instance, there are multi-table tournaments (MTT) where serious amounts of money are at stake.

MTTs are competitions where multiple players at multiple tables play until only one table remains. The tournament usually proceeds until all players except one has been eliminated. MTTs are also an avenue for players who want to qualify for offline tournaments, such as the World Series of Poker.

Other tournaments that William Hill Poker holds are Sit & Go tournaments, shootout tournaments, bounty tournaments, and guaranteed tournaments.

888poker

The flagship site of the 888 Poker Network, 888poker is one of the online poker world's leaders. It counts more than 10 million registered members from all over the world. And with a new player joining every 12 seconds, it's one of the fastest growing poker sites as well. This site is also the same owner as the 888 Casino.

Players can try their luck and online poker strategies at 888poker's roster of tournaments. These are:

• The Big Shot - The biggest prize pools are up for grabs in this tournament, which is the day's main event.
• The Rumble - These are daily progressive knockout (PKO) tournaments where players can try to claim as many bounties as possible.
• The Dash - Short and quick, these are turbo tournaments.
• The Classic - This freezeout tournament is played the old school way. It also has shorter late registration.
• The Mayhem - This event consists of 6-max tournaments packed with action and played at a fast pace.
• The Voyage - Players can take their time enjoying the deepstack tournaments in this event.

Players can qualify via 888poker's daily freerolls. They can also opt to buy in directly. The tournaments offered by 888poker are designed to fit a variety of budgets and schedules, and all of them provide a great opportunity for players to win prizes.